THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 

MRS,  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


HISTORY 


EMBALMING, 


PREPARATIONS  IN  ANATOMY,  PATHOLOGY, 
AND  NATURAL  HISTORY: 


INCLUDING 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  A  NEW  PROCESS  FOR  EMBALMING. 


BY  J.  N.  GAiNNAL. 


PARIS,  1838. 


TRANSLATED    FROM    THE    FRENCH,    WITH    NOTES     AND 
ADDITIONS. 


BY   R.    HARLAN,   M.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED  BY  JUDAH  DOBSON, 

No.  106  Chestnut  Street. 

1840. 


MERRIHEW    &  THOMPSON,  PRINTERS 

7    Cartei^'s  alley. 


LOCKED 
CASE 


NOTE  OF  THE  TRANSLATOR. 


It  will  be  reasonably  anticipated  from  the  title  of  the 
present  volume,  that  it  embraces  subjects  of  equal  interest 
to  the  general  and  professional  reader,  as  well  as  indispen- 
sable material  for  the  researches  of  the  practical  anatomist 
and  student  of  natural  history. 

The  latter  class  will  find  in  it  all  the  requisite  details  for 
a  successful  prosecution  of  its  arduous,  intricate,  but  favorite 
pursuits ;  whilst  those  of  its  patrons  of  the  former  class,  can- 
not fail  to  be  interested  in  the  various  and  important  facts 
and  discussions  embraced  in  a  general  history  of  embalming 
from  the  earliest  ages  to  the  present  period,  so  hiseparably 
connected  with  the  moral  and  physical  history  of  our  own 
species. 

An  additional  subject  of  interest  to  all  classes  will  be 
acknowledged  in  the  facts  and  observations  elicited  by  the 
arduous  and  industrious  researches  of  the  author,  whilst  in- 
vestigating the  new  process  of  embalming,  which  has  led 
to  such  happy  results  to  the  students  of  anatomy  and  na- 
tural history.  The  great  importance,  in  all  respects,  of  M. 
Gannal's  discovery,  has  been  fully  and  adequately  acknow- 
ledged by  the  different  commissions  appointed  by  the  Insti- 
tute of  France,  and  the  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine,  who 
have  awarded  to  its  author  both  honour  and  profit,  as  a 
real  benefactor  to  science,  to  the  progress  of  which  he  has 
so  substantially  added.  The  current  of  the  text,  together 
with  the  notes  and  illustrations  of  the  translator,  embraces 
all  the  discoveries  of  the  age,  of  this  nature,  of  value  to  the 
practical  anatomist  and  naturalist,  consisting  both  of  ori- 
ginal observations,  and  of  highly  important  information  con- 
tained in  the  stanclartl  works  of  D(!  Bils,  Rnysch,  Swanmier- 


NOTE    OF    THE    TRANSLATOR. 

dam,  Claiidems,  De  Rasiere,  Dumeril,  Hunter,  Brescliet, 
Pole,  Margolin,  Bell,  Cloquet,  Swan,  Parsons,  Horner,  &c. 

Concerning  the  nature,  extent,  and  merits  of  the  new  dis- 
covery of  M.  Gannal,  the  translator,  has  spoken  in  the  ap- 
pendix, from  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  author  and  a 
minute  examination  of  the  collection  of  embalmed  objects 
contained  in  his  cabinet  at  Paris. 

Philadelphia,  September,  1840. 


ANALYTICAL  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PllEFACE,  p,  5. 

IxTHODucTiox,  p.  9 Embalming  among  the  Egyptians — Cause  and  ori- 
gin of  this  custom — Opinion   of  authors  :   Cassien,  Herodotus,  Diodorus 

Siccuius,  Maillet,  Bory  de  Saint  Vincent,  Volney,  Pariset,  etc First  idea 

of  embalming  offered  to  the  Egyptians  by  the  mummy  of  the  sands — Opi- 
nion of  Count  de  Caylus  de  Rouelle — Plan  of  this  work — IN'atural  mum- 
mies— Mummies  of  the  Guanches — Of  the  Eg)-ptians — Of  the  Jews Of 

the  Greeks  and  Romans — Of  modern  nations — Mummies  the  object  of  su- 
perstitious dread — History  of  the  Pole,  Razevil — Mummy  employed  as  a 
remedy  in  disease — Its  marvellous  properties — Officinal  mummy  of  Crol- 

lius — In  what  embalming  consisted  among  the  Egyptians  and  Guanches 

What  it  has  been  among  the  moderns — What  my  discoveries  have  made 
of  it — Motives  which  have  induced  me  to  publish  this  work. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Of  embalming  ix  genekal,  p.  21 Tendency  of  bodies  to  decomposi- 
tion— Variable,  according  to  countries,  species,  and  individuals — Fact  re- 
ported by  Ammien  Marcellin — Consequences  deducible  from  it,  for  the  na- 
tives of  hot  countries — for  temperate  and  cold  countries — Facts  observed 
by  Maillet — Astonishing  analogy  observed  in  the  caverns  of  Saint  Michel, 
at  Bordeaux — Various  processes  of  embalming — With  gum — With  ho- 
ney— W^ith  wax — The  embalming  of  Alexander — Of  Agesilas — Brine 
unknown — Fact  of  TulUola,  reported  by  Coelius  Rodiginus — Another  by 
Valateron — Embalming  with  aromatic  and  astringent  substances — With 
resinous  and  bituminous  substances — Empyricism  of  the  moderns Pro- 
cess of  Ruysch,  of  Swammerdam — Note  of  Strader — Appreciation  of  these 
methods — Useful  deductions  to  be  drawn  from  them — Penicher  thinks  it 
impossible  to  embahn  without  emptying  the  large  cavities — Fact  in  sup- 
port of  his  opinion — My  experiments  to  this  effect  on  infants. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Natural  Mummies,  p.  35. — Power  of  nature — Importance  of  seeking  her 
ways  in  the  study  of  her  phenomena  ;  to  follow  her  lessons — Division  of 
natural  mummies — Mummies  due  to  the  particular  qualities  of  the  soil — 
Note  communicated  by  Drs.  Boucherie,  Bermont,  and  Gaubert,  concerning 
the  mummies  of  Saint  Michel,  at  Bordeaux  ;  thermometrical  and  hygro- 
metrical  observations  ;  chemical  analysis  ;  results — Similar  facts  observed 
at  Palermo— At  Toulouse — History  of  M.  de  la  Visee — Mummies  due  to 
the  general  qualities  of  the  air  and  soil — Mummy  of  the  avalanches — Time 
of  its  duration — Mummification  by  a  cold  and  drj'  wind — Morgue  of  the 
Great  Saint  Bernard — Note  communicated  by  Dr.  Lenoir — Mummy  of  the 
Sands — Testimony  of  Herodotus — Description  of  father  Kirchcr — In 
Egypt — In  Mexico — These  facts  establish  a  simple  connexion  between  the 
productions  of  nature  and  those  of  human  industrv. 

1 


2  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

EjiBAiMivr.  OF  THE  GuANCHEs,  p.  48. — Rescmblance  between  the  embalm- 
ings of  the  Guanches,  and  those  of  the  Egyptians — Consequences  deduci- 
ble  from  this  resemblance — Description  of  the  processes  drawn  from  the 
Essay  of  M.  Bory  de  Saint  "Vincent — Duration  of  embalming — State  in 
which  are  found  these  mummies  at  the  present  day — Probable  duration  of 
their  preservation — Catacombs  at  Fer,  the  Canaries,  &c. — Construction  of 
mausoleums — Fact  observed  by  M.  Jouannet  of  two  Guanch  mummies. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Embalming  among  the  ancient  Egyptians,  p.  54. — What  comprises  the 
labour  of  embalming — Disposition — Thermometrical  and  hygrometrical 
state  of  the  caverns  in  which  the  bodies  were  deposited ;  what  advantages 
for  preservation  resulted  from  these — Recital  of  Herodotus — Of  Diodorus 
Sicculus — Orpheus  transposes  these  usages  into  Grecian  mythology — Judg- 
ment of  the  dead — The  place  where  they  are  deposited — Models  of  em- 
balmings presented  to  relatives — Three  kinds  of  embalmings  ;  description 
of  each  by  Herodotus — Horror  existing  for  those  charged  with  making  the 
incisions — Invocation  to  the  sun,  previous  to  casting  away  the  intestines — 
Precautions  taken  for  the  preservation  of  the  bodies  of  young  females,  or 
those  of  high  rank — Commentaries  on  the  narratives  of  the  ancients — Suc- 
cession of  means  discussed — Opinion  of  Rouelle  concerning  natrum — Ex- 
amination of  the  linen  bandages  in  which  the  mummies  are  enveloped — 
Analysis  of  the  embalming  material  by  Rouelle  ;  explanation  of  several 
passages — Exhibition  of  models — Price — New  details  furnished  by  Diodo- 
rus— Quantity  of  bandages  found  around  a  single  mummy — Embalming  of 
bodies  without  sepulture — drowned  persons  for  example — Mummy  of  a 
prince  of  Memphis — Examination  of  this  mummy  by  Rouelle,  and  the 
Count  de  Caylus — Extracts  from  the  work  of  M.  Rouyer,  (great  work  upon 
Egypt ;)  the  details  which  he  furnishes  complete  our  knowledge  of  Egyp- 
tian embalming ;  how  many  kinds  of  mummies  he  acknowledges — Mum- 
mies having  an  incision  on  the  left  side — Mummies  without  any  incision — 
Exploration  and  description  of  the  plain  of  Saggarah,  by  De  Maillet — Visit 
to  the  subterranean  chambers — Mummy,  near  which  was  found  a  symboli- 
cal statue — Description  of  an  antique  found  in  a  tomb— Mummies  pre- 
served upon  beds  of  carbon — Conclusion  drawn  from  facts  contained  in  this 
chapter. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Or  EMBALMING,    FROM   THE   TIME   OF  THE   EGYPTIANS   DOWN  TO   OUH    DAYS, 

p.  89. — Honours  of  embalming,  conferred  by  other  nations  on  distinguished 
men  only — Doubts  on  the  efficacy  of  this  operation — Example  of  Alexan- 
der, and  of  Ptolemy — Embalming  among  the  Jews — Embalming  of  Jesus 
Christ — Employment  of  wax  among  the  Persians — Methods  of  De  Bils,  of 
Ruysch,  of  Swammerdam,  of  Clauderus — Description  of  the  cabinet  of 
Sieur  Desenclosses — Silence  regarding  the  processes  of  preservation   em- 


CONTENTS.  3 

ployed  by  these  authors — Composition  of  the  balsam  given  by  Penicher — 
Salt  of  Clauderus — Brine  of  Charles  de  Maetz — Preservation  of  the  body 
of  Saint  Thomas — Formulae  :  balsamic  wines,  compound  brandy,  vinegar, 
cere-cloth — Mixtures  for  soaking  the  linens  :  liniment,  balsamic  powders — 
Various  methods  of  embalming,  to  the  number  of  four — Embalming  of  the 
heart — Preservation  of  the  heart  of  an  Abbe — Embalming  of  Madame  the 
Dauphine — Reflections. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Art  of  embalmixg  in  ouu  day,  phevious  to  mt  discovekies,  p.  118. — 
Opinion  of  M.  Pelletan  upon  the  imperfect  state  of  this  art — Dispute  among 
the  physicians,  surgeons,  and  apothecaries,  upon  the  question  of  preced- 
ence— Embalming  the  senators  of  the  empire — Improvements  proposed  by 
M.  Pelletan — Application  of  the  discoveries  of  Chaussier  upon  the  preser- 
vative properties  of  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury  to  the  art  of  embalming — 
Embalming,  as  practised  by  Beclard — Preservation  of  the  body  of  Colonel 
Morland,  by  M.  Larrey — Remarks — Preservation  of  the  body  of  a  young 
girl  of  ten  years,  by  M.  Boudet — Reflections  on  these  facts — Embalming 
of  Louis  XVIIL,  King  of  France — Fifteenth  observation — Criticism — Em- 
pyricism  in  this  art — Exact  appreciation  of  the  preservative  properties  of 
the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury — Superiority  of  the  means  which  I  propose. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

Means  for  the  preparation  and  preservation  of  parts  of  normal 
anatomt,  of  pathologic  ax  anatomt,  and  of  natural  history,  an- 
TERIOR TO  THE  Gannal  PROCESS,  p.  141. — Importance  of  such  prepara- 
tions to  the  physician  and  naturalist — Plan  of  a  museum — Engravings  : 
pieces  in  wax,  artificial  pieces  in  carton,  in  white  wood — The  methods  of 
preparing  recent  organs  and  tissues — Process  of  Swan,  of  Chaussier — 1. 
Generalities  concerning  the  operations  which  precede  preservation — Choice 
of  subjects — Dissection — Maceration  and  corrosion — Injections  ;  evacuants  ; 
repletives;  conservatives;  washings;  ligature  of  vessels — Separation  and 
distention  of  parts — 2.  Methods  of  preservation  of  naturalists — Preserva- 
tion by  desiccation — Methods  divided  into  four  series  ;  rectified  spirits  of 
wine  ;  deuto-chloride  of  mercury,  and  other  metallic  substances — Earthy 
salts — Process  of  tanning — Desiccation — Preservation  in  liquids,  acids,  al- 
kalies, salts,  alum,  volatile  oils,  alcoholic  liquors — Means  of  preservation 
practised  by  naturalists :  soap  of  Becoeur,  soapy  pomatum — tanning  li- 
quor— antiseptic  powder — gummy  paste — preservative  powder — German 
powder — powder  of  Naumann,  and  of  Hoffman — Preser\'atives  in  liquors  : 
bath,  naturalist  preparers  in  Paris,  tanning  liquor,  bath  of  the  Abbe  Ma- 
nesse — Liquors  as  washes  ;  essence  of  serpolet,  of  turpentine — Liquor  of 
Sir  S.  Smith — Bitter  spirituous  liquors — Varnish — Liquors  employed  as 
injections — Liquors  in  which  objects  are  preserved  which  do  not  admit  of 
drying — Spirit  of  wine — Liquor  of  Nicholas — Of  George  Graves — Of  the 
Abbe  Manesse — Critical  reflections — Appreciation  of  each  of  the  proposed 
means — (1.)   For  desiccation — New  methods  which  I  propose  for  the  pre- 


4  CONTENTS. 

paration  of  dry  parts — Example  of  an  injection  by  my  method — ^The  sub- 
ject submitted  to  the  examination  of  a  scientific  commission — Application 
of  my  process  to  the  preservation  of  mammiferous  animals — Of  birds — 
State  of  the  tissues — (2.)  For  preservation  in  liquids — Nitric  Acid — Alco- 
hol— Weakened  alcohol — Alum  :  chemical  demonstration  of  its  insufficien- 
cy for  preservation — (3.)  Means  of  preservation  applied  to  each  tissue — 
Fibrous  tissue — Articulations — Aponeuroses,  tendons  and  ligaments — 
Process  of  M.  J.  Cloquet — Osseous  tissue — Maceration — Ebullition — 
Bleaching — Cutaneous  tissue — Cellular  tissue — Synovial  and  serous  tis- 
sues— Brain — Spinal  marrow — Nerves — Blood-vessels — Muscular  tis- 
sue— Heart — Lungs — Eye — Fcetus — Envelopes. 

CHAPTER  Vni. 

Gannal's  process  for  the  presehvatiojt  or  normal  anatomy,  pa- 
thological ANATOMY,  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY,  p,  197. — Differ- 
ence between  the  processes  of  preservation  offered  to  anatomists,  and 
those  practised  for  embalming  :  1.  Preservation  of  bodies  for  dissection — 
Table  of  my  experiments  in  1828 — In  1831 — Kindness  of  M.  Professor 
Orfila — What  formerly  existed  upon  this  matter — My  point  of  departure 
proceeding  from  the  practice  of  artists — Action  of  Acids — Salts — Alumi- 
nous salts — These  possess  in  the  highest  degree  the  preservative  property — 
Selection  to  be  made  among  these  salts — My  first  experiments — Satisfy- 
ing results — Proved  by  commissions  appointed  by  the  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, and  the  Academy  of  Medicine — Series  of  researches — JVIisreckon- 
ing — New  experiments — Superiority  of  the  acetate  of  alum — Facts — 
Chloride  of  alumine,  its  defects — Arsenic,  and  bad  results — First  report 
of  the  Academy  of  Sciences — First  report  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine — 
Definitive  report  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine — Reflections — Some  good 
results  obtained  at  first  from  a  mixture  of  alum,  nitrate  of  potash,  and 
chloride  of  sodium — Not  sustained  above  the  10°  of  centigrade — Bath — 
Light  furnished  by  it— Data  for  new  researches — Acetate  of  alumine  ex- 
cellent— Reason  for  renouncing  its  use  for  amphitheatres — Simple  sul- 
phate, its  analysis — Demonstration  of  its  superiority  over  acid  sulphate — 
Various  liquors  of  which  it  is  the  base — Black  colour  of  the  skin — Its 
cause — Report  of  the  commission  of  the  Institute — Experiments  of  MM. 
Serres,  Dubreuil,  Bourgery,  Azoux,  Velpeau,  Amussat — My  process  ap- 
plied to  the  dissecting  rooms  of  Clamart:  2.  Anatomical  preparations — 
Those  of  pathology,  and  Natural  history — Facts,  proving  a  perfect  preser- 
vation during  many  years — Composition  of  various  preservative  liquids — 
Usage — Example  of  the  preservation  of  dry  pieces  by  the  simple  sul- 
phate— All  my  experiments  first  attempted   on  the  foetus — Circumstances 

the  most  unfavourable  :   3 Embalming — There  remains  for  me  a  series  of 

experiments  to  perform,  to  enable  me  to  practise  embalming — Data  to 
which  I  must  confine  myself — Have  I  attained  my  end  ] — Answer  to  this 
question  by  facts — Exhumation — First  observation — Second  observation. 

Appendix,  p.  253. 


To  Messrs.  Members  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences. 

Gentlemen, — From  the  commencement  of  my  re- 
searches upon  the  preservation  of  animal  matters,  you  have 
encouraged  me  by  extending  your  support  to  efforts  which 
my  own  resources  would  not  perhaps  have  enabled  me  to 
continue  ;  in  this  path  strewn  with  so  many  difficulties,  and 
disgusts,  I  have  endeavoured  to  show  myself  worthy  of 
your  high  protection. 

At  a  later  period,  when  I  was  able  to  offer  to  physicians 
and  naturalists  methods  of  preservation  superior  to  those 
previously  known,  you  conferred  upon  me  the  prize  founded 
by  Monthyon.  I  have  pursued  my  researches  with  the 
view  of  adapting  my  process  to  the  art  of  embalming ;  the 
happy  results  which  I  have  obtained  have  inspired  me  with 
the  idea  of  comparing  my  mummies  with  those  obtained  by 
processes  different  from  my  own. 

Finally,  I  have  extended  this  parallel  between  my  pro- 
cesses and  those  formerly  applied,  to  preparations  of  healthy 
anatomy,  to  pathological  anatomy,  and  to  natural  history. 

My  labour  terminated,  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  de- 
dicate to  you  a  work  the  publication  of  which  is  due  to  the 
decision  which  your  wisdom  and  justice  have  dictated. 

Allow  me,  gentlemen,  to  consider  this  dedication  as  a 
new  encouragement  which  you  are  willing  to  confer  upon 
me,  and  trust  in  the  respectful  sentiments  with  Avhich  I  have 
the  honour  to  be,  your  very  humble  and  very  grateful  ser- 
vant, 

Gannal. 


PREFACE. 


I  HAD  terminated  my  first  researches  upon  the  preserva- 
tion of  animal  matters,  and  proposed  to  pubhsh  them  ;  my 
notes  were  collated  and  my  work  prepared,  when  the  idea 
struck  me  that  in  place  of  confining  myself  to  the  exposition 
of  the  results  which  I  had  obtained,  I  might,  with  advan- 
tage to  science,  present  a  history  of  the  art  of  embalming 
from  the  highest  antiquity  to  our  time,  and  compare  my 
processes,  with  those  in  use  for  the  preservation  of  objects 
of  normal  anatomy,  pathological  anatomy,  and  natural  his- 
tory. 

This  determination  has  decided  me  to  publish  a  vo- 
lume, in  place  of  a  pamphlet  of  fifty  pages. 

I  had  no  model  to  follow,  for  no  author  had  re-united  in 
the  same  book,  the  elements  of  which  I  wished  this  might 
be  composed.  I  found  myself,  therefore,  necessitated  to 
collect  together  in  the  following  pages  the  materials  scattered 
tliroughout  numerous  works. 

For  emhalming,  Plutarch,  Herodoi us,  Diodorus  Sicculus, 
Stacy,  Pliny,  Cicero,  Porphyrus,  Prosper  Mpin,  Cassien, 
Clauderus,  Penicher,  Baricel,  Rodiginus,  Corippus, 
Gryphius,  Crollius,  the  Reverend  Fathers  Kircher  and 
Mhiestrier,  De  Maillet,  Volney,  Rouelle,  the  Count  de 
Caylus,  MM.  Pariset,  Rouyer,  Bory  de  Saint  Vincent, 
and  numerous  other  authors,  have  furnished  me  with  des- 
criptions and  materials,  which  I  was  obliged  to  put  in  order 
and  bring  before  the  eye  of  the  reader,  in  order  to  present 
to  him  a  useful  lecture,  and  in  some  sort  preparatory  to  my 
own  ideas.  As  my  point  of  departure  was  scientific  data, 
opinions  and  facts  have  come  in  place  as  the  recital  needed 
them;  and  thanks  to  this  idea,  which  has  never  abandoned 


PREFACE.  7 

me,  the  numerous  materials  from  which,  in  the  commence- 
ment, I  feared  disorder  and  confusion,  have  come,  as  if  by  con- 
sent to  dispose  themselves  in  order ;  so  great  is  the  influence 
of  a  general  idea  in  the  arrangement  of  facts.  I  believe 
that  I  have  reduced  to  exact  proportions  the  art  of  embalm- 
ing among  different  nations.  My  predecessors  had  referred 
too  httle  to  nature,  too  much  to  man,  in  the  appreciation 
of  Egyptian  embalming;  they  had  not  sufficiently  estimated 
the  dilficulties  of  the  same  practice  among  nations  less  fa- 
voured by  climate.  Facts  reconsidered  and  interrogated 
with  the  aid  of  lights  afforded  by  the  recent  progress  of 
physics  and  chemistry,  have  furnished  us  with  consequences 
naturally  resulting  from  their  attentive  examination. 

When  the  history  of  an  art  is  followed  step  by  step,  as  we 
have  done  for  that  of  embalming,  one  is  astonished  at  a 
psychological  fact,  equally  applicable  to  every  case — we  see 
how  idle  and  common  place  the  human  mind  is,  and  how 
little  prone  it  is  to  spontaneous  activity.  The  gross  and 
inconsiderate  imitation  of  the  Egyptian  processes  during  a 
long  series  of  ages,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples 
of  this  disposition. 

Trials  directed  by  a  spirit  of  analysis  and  critical  exami- 
nation have  enabled  me  to  substitute  for  complex  operations, 
for  long  difficult  and  expensive  operations,  most  frequently 
inefficacious,  a  simple  means,  of  a  determined  action,  and 
submitted  for  several  years  to  the  examination  of  committees 
appointed  by  the  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  Academy 
of  Medicine. 

In  order  to  trace  the  history  of  the  preservation  of  objects 
of  anatomy  and  natural  history  I  have  had  no  occasion  to  go 
back  to  an  epoch  distant  from  our  own  ;  for  this  science  is 
altogether  new.  Beyond  the  discoveries  of  Chaussier,  on 
the  preservative  properties  of  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury, 
the  labours  of  MM.  Dumeril,  Cloquet  and  Breschet,  there 
is  very  little  existing  on  this  subject.  So  that  I  hav^e  con- 
cluded, after  a  complete  exposition  of  the  preservative 
means  given  by  these  authors,  it  only  remained  for  me  to 


8  PREFACE. 

propose  the  preservative  substances  which,  after  numerous 
experiments,  have  appeared  to  me  preferable  to  those 
which  they  have  recommended.  They  possess  a  pecuhar 
merit  for  tlie  formation  of  cabinets  of  natural  history,  that  of 
reducing  the  expense  to  at  least  one-nineteenth. 

I  have  considered  it  my  duty  to  give  here  the  details  of 
the  composition  of  the  liquids  employed,  either  as  baths  or 
injections,  by  the  physician  and  naturalist ;  the  interest  of 
science  imposing  on  me  this  obligation.  But,  as  regards 
embalming,  the  same  motive  does  not  exist ;  I  have  conse- 
quently abstained  from  giving  in  totality  the  means  employed 
in  this  operation,  reserving  to  myself  the  care  of  this  pro- 
cess on  the  request  of  families  or  physicians.*  ^ 

It  was  not  until  after  many  unsuccessful  efforts  that  I  suc- 
ceeded in  discovering  a  method  capable  of  insuring  the  inde- 
finite preservation  of  bodies  deposited  in  the  earth.  A 
thousand  unexpected  difficulties  arose  in  my  path  ;  and  to 
cite  only  one,  at  the  end  of  eight  or  nine  months  of  preser- 
vation, a  vegetable  production,  known  to  botanists  under 
the  name  of  byssus,  for  a  long  time  embarrassed  me  ;  I  tried 
jmmerous  means,  before  discovering  one  capable  of  suppres- 
sing this  formation. 

The  perfection  to  Mdiich  I  have  brought  the  art  of  em- 
balming, leaves  little  to  desire.  So  convinced  am  I  at  length 
of  the  efficacy  of  the  processes  which  I  employ,  that  I  shall 
be  always  ready,  at  the  request  of  the  authorities  or  of  fa- 
milies, to  exhume  those  bodies  which  I  have  already  em- 
balmed in  great  numbers,  at  any  expressed  period  of  time. 

•  This  paragraph,  evidently  empyrical  in  its  bearing,  is  derogatory  to 
Gannal  as  a  man  of  science.  We  further  believe  that  the  pretended 
secret  of  his  manipulations  is  of  little  consequence  to  the  success  of  the 
operation:  it  is  generally  understood  that  to  the  fluid  acetate  of  alumina 
(produced  by  the  chemical  action  induced  by  the  mixture  of  the  solutions 
of  acetate  of  lead  and  alum,)  to  be  injected,  a  little  arsenic  is  added,  to 
prevent  the  formation  of  the  byssus,  and  attacks  of  insects,  also  some  car- 
mine, to  give  to  the  subject  a  healthy  colour.  —  TV. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  Egyptians  embalmed  their  dead,  and  the  processes 
which  they  employed  were  sufficiently  perfect  to  secure  them 
an  indefinite  preservation.  This  is  a  fact  of  which  the  py- 
ramids, the  caverns,  and  all  the  sepultures  of  Egypt  offer  us 
irrefragible  proofs.  But  what  were  the  causes  and  the  ori- 
gin of  this  custom?  We  have  in  answer  to  this  question 
only  hypothesis  and  conjecture.  In  the  absence  of  valid 
documents,  each  one  explains  according  to  the  bias  of  his 
mind,  or  the  nature  of  his  studies,  a  usage,  the  origin  of 
which  is  lost  in  the  night  of  time.  One  of  the  ancients  in- 
forms us  that  the  Egyptians  took  so  much  pains  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  body,  believing  that  the  soul  inhabited  it  so 
long  as  it  subsisted.  Cassien,  on  the  other  hand,  assures  us 
that  they  invented  this  method  because  they  were  unable 
to  bury  their  dead  during  the  period  of  inundation.  Hero- 
dotus, in  his  third  book,  observes,  that  embalming  had  for 
its  object  the  securing  of  bodies  from  the  voracity  of  ani- 
mals; they  did  not  bury  them,  says  he,  for  fear  they  would 
be  eaten  by  worms,  and  they  did  not  burn  them,  because 
they  considered  fire  like  a  luild  beast  that  devours  every- 
thing it  can  seize  upon.  Filial  piety  and  respect  for  the 
dead,  according  to  Diodorus  Sicculus,  were  the  sentiments 
which  inspired  the  Egyptians  with  the  idea  of  embalming  the 
dead  bodies.  De  Maillet,  in  his  tenth  letter  upon  Egypt,  re- 
fers only  to  a  religious  motive  the  origin  of  embalming :  "  The 
priests  and  sages  of  Egypt  taught  their  fellow  citizens  that, 
after  a  certain  number  of  ages,  which  they  made  to  amount 
to  thirty  or  forty  thousand  years,  and  at  which  they  fixed 
the  epoch  of  the  great  revolution  when  the  earth  would  re- 
turn to  the  point  at  which  it  commenced  its  existence,  their 
souls  would  return  to  the  same  bodies  which  they  formerly 

2 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

inhabited.  But,  in  order  to  arrive,  after  death,  to  this  wished 
for  resurrection,  two  things  were  absokitely  necessary ;  first, 
that  the  bodies  should  be  absokitely  carefully  preserved  from 
corruption,  in  order  that  the  souls  might  re-inhabit  them; 
secondly,  that  the  penance  submitted  to  during  this  long 
period  of  years,  that  the  numerous  sacrifices  founded  by  the 
dead,  or  those  offered  to  their  manes  by  their  relations  or 
their  friends,  should  expiate  the  crimes  they  had  committed 
during  the  time  of  their  first  habitation  on  earth.  With  these 
conditions  exactly  observed,  these  souls,  separated  from  their 
bodies,  should  be  permitted  to  re-enter  at  the  arrival  of  this 
grand  revolution  which  they  anticipated — remember  all  that 
had  passed  during  their  first  sojourn,  and  become  immortal 
like  themselves.  They  had  further  the  privilege  of  commu- 
nicating this  same  happiness  to  the  animals  which  they  had 
cherished,  provided  that  their  bodies  inclosed  in  the  same 
tomb  with  themselves,  were  equally  well  preserved.  It  is 
in  virtue  of  this  belief  that  so  many  birds,  cats,  and  other 
animals  are  found  embalmed  with  almost  the  same  care  as 
the  human  bodies  with  which  they  have  been  deposited. 
Such  was  the  idea  of  perfect  happiness  which  they  hoped 
to  enjoy  in  this  new  life.  In  expectation  of  this  resurrection, 
the  souls  inhabited  the  airs  nearest  the  dwellings  where  re- 
posed the  bodies  they  had  animated.  But  superstition  alone, 
it  could  scarcely  be  believed,  would  induce  men  to  save 
from  destruction  the  mortal  spoils  of  individuals  whom  they 
had  loved  whilst  living.  1  much  prefer  looking  for  the 
source  of  this  usage  in  the  sentiment  which  smvives  a  che- 
rished object  snatched  from  affection  by  the  hand  of  death. 
Since  death  levels  all  distinctions — respecting  neither  love 
nor  friendship, — since  the  dearest  and  most  sacred  ties  are  re- 
lentlessly broken  asunder,  it  is  the  natural  attribute  of  affec- 
tion, to  seek  to  avoid  in  some  degree,  a  painful  separation, 
by  preserving  the  remains  of  those  they  love  and  by  whom 
they  were  beloved.  Love,  tenderness,  and  friendship,  do 
not  terminate  with  the  objects  which  gave  them  birth — they 
survive  and  follow  them  even  beyond  the  tomb." — (Boryde 


TNTRODUCTION.  1  I 

Saitit  Vincent,  Essay  on  the  Fortunate  Islaiids. — Embalm- 
ing of  the  Guanches.)  The  same  author  adds:  "  The  cus- 
tom of  preservmg  their  dead,  which  was  only  national 
among  the  Egyptians  and  Guanclies,  that  is  to  say,  with 
men  the  least  instructed,  and  a  nation  the  most  learned,  is, 
as  we  have  said  above,  proof  of  a  profound  sensibility  among 
nations  with  whom  it  is  general.  Without  doubt,  an  en- 
lightened policy  would  contribute  much  to  introduce,  ex- 
tend, and  confirm  the  practice.  It  proves  an  intelligent  go- 
vernment, one  full  of  solicitude  for  the  happiness  of  its  sub- 
jects." The  opinion  of  Volney,  revived  and  adopted  by 
Pariset,  in  his  memoir  on  the  causes  of  the  plague,  is  closely 
allied  to  the  preceding.  "  In  a  numerous  population,  under 
a  burning  climate,  and  a  soil  profoundly  drenched  during 
many  months  of  the  year,  the  rapid  putrefaction  of  bodies 
is  a  leaven  for  plague  and  disease.  Stricken  by  these  mur- 
derous pests,  Egypt,  at  an  early  day,  struggled  to  obviate 
them;  hence  have  arisen,  on  the  one  hand,  the  custom  of 
burying  their  dead  at  a  distance  from  their  habitations ;  and 
on  the  other,  an  art  so  ingenious  and  simple,  to  prevent  pu- 
trefaction by  embalming:  a  secondary  precaution,  more  im- 
portant and  more  efficacious,  with  which  the  primary  could 
not  dispense,  and  which,  exacting  attempts,  trials,  and  ex- 
periments, could  only  be  obtained  as  a  last  result — an  art 
by  no  means  expensive,  of  a  simplicity  and  facility  of  exe- 
cution, which  rendered  its  immediate  application  popular, 
general,  and,  perhaps,  uniform  for  all  dead  bodies.  Research 
and  luxury  followed  at  a  later  period."  The  sentiments  to 
which  the  authors  above  cited  attribute  the  origin  of  em- 
balming among  the  Egyptians  exist  in  every  man,  viewed 
either  as  a  social  or  isolated  being.  One  individual  may  be 
induced  to  embalm  the  bodies  of  his  relatives  or  friends  by 
motives  of  superstition;  another  from  egotism  or  personal 
interest;  a  third  from  motives  of  salubrity  or  common  inte- 
terest;  another,  in  fine,  is  impelled  by  an  instinctive  affec- 
tion to  perform  the  sacred  duty  of  preserving  the  remains 
of  those  who  were  dear  to  him.     But  none  of  these  mo- 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

lives  possess  a  character  of  generality  and  perpetuity,  which 
consecrates  a  usage  and  renders  it  popular;  it  was  therefore 
left  to  government  to  interfere  and  give  it  the  force  of  law. 

The  noble  sentiments  of  affection,  of  respect,  and  of  vene- 
ration, had  then,  Avithout  doubt,  the  priority;  and  every- 
thing proves  to  us  that  these  inspired  the  admirable  art  of 
embalming,  and  that  they  were  above  all  invoked  by  le- 
gislators. 

Nature,  besides,  upon  this  torrid  soil,  gave  the  first  idea 
of  this  mode  of  preserving  the  remains  of  men  and  animals : 
the  mummy  1  of  the  sands,  a  natural  j^henomenon,  was  a  re- 
velation to  a  people  so  wise  and  industrious.  The  course 
of  our  work  will  demonstrate,  we  hope,  the  simple  connec- 
tion of  these  facts;  it  had  already  arrested  M.  le  Comte  de 
Caylus,  who,  in  a  memoir  read  to  the  Academy  of  Inscrip- 
tions and  Belles-Lettres,  in  1749,  thus  expresses  himself: 
"  The  Egyptians,  according  to  appearances,  owe  the  idea  of 
their  mummies,  to  the  dead  bodies  which  they  found  buried 
in  the  burning  sands  which  prevail  in  some  parts  of  Egypt, 
and  which,  carried  away  by  the  winds,  bury  travellers  and 
preserve  their  bodies,  by  consuming  the  fat  and  flesh  with- 
out altering  the  skin." 

The  same  opinion  is  advanced  by  Rouelle.  In  our  gene- 
ral history  of  the  preservation  of  the  human  body,  the 
mummy  of  the  sand,  and  those  induced  by  other  local  cir- 
cumstances, will  have  the  first  place;  and  the  art  of  em- 
balming among  the  Egyptians  and  the  Guanches  will  oc- 
cupy the  second.  This  art,  we  have  already  said,  presents 
among  these  people,  a  general  character,  which  does  not 
appear  in  any  other  comitry.  No  where,  indeed,  are  the 
processes  of  preservation  so  efficacious,  and  these  two  na- 
tions alone,  have  been  able  to  endow  their  mummies  with 
the  power  of  resisting  destruction. 

1  Momie  or  mumie :  the  etymology  of  this  word  is  not  well  known  : 
the  Jesuit  Kircher  supposes  that  mum  is  a  Persian  word,  and  Pere  Mar- 
tini, an  Arab  name,  signifying  a  dried  corpse:  other  writers  derive 
mummy  from  amomum,  the  name  of  an  aromatic  plant.  These  conjectures 
I  leave  to  the  etymologists. 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

We  shall  see  in  the  sequel  this  custom  establish  itself 
among  the  Jews,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans  and  moderns — 
but  it  no  longer  displays  a  general  character;  it  is  no  longer 
a  law,  a  social  institution ;  religious  belief,  superstition,  per- 
sonal interest,  salubrity,  no  longer  obliged  them  to  recur  to 
it.  Sentiments  of  veneration,  respect,  and  attachment,  to 
which  we  have  given  the  priority  to  all  others,  sufficed  to 
perpetuate  this  custom,  and  have  preserved  it  for  a  long  se- 
ries of  ages,  from  the  epoch  of  the  Jews,  down  to  our  day. 

Joseph  commanded  the  physicians  in  his  service  to  em- 
balm the  body  of  his  father,  which  they  executed  according 
to  order,  in  the  space  of  forty  days. —  (Genesis.) 

Saint  John  informs  us,  that  Nicodemus  took  a  hundred 
pounds  of  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  with  which  to 
embalm  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  they  enveloped  in 
sheets  with  aromatics,  according  to  the  usual  mode  of  bury- 
ing the  dead  among  the  Jews. 

Testimony  of  a  similar  natm-e,  transmitted  to  us  by  his- 
torians, show  us  this  usage  in  vigor  among  the  Persians,  the 
Arabians,  the  Ethiopians,  &c.:  for  kings,  princes,  and  per- 
sons of  distinction,  to  whom  they  would  not  consider  that 
they  had  rendered  the  respect  due  to  their  memories  if  they 
had  failed  to  preserve  preciously  what  remained  of  them. 

Corippus,  in  his  funeral  oration  on  the  Emperor  Justinien, 
thus  expresses  himself  on  the  embalming  of  this  emperor  : 

"Thura  sabaea  cremant,  fragrantia  mille 
Infundunt  pateris,  et  odoro  balsama  succo,  locatis 
Centum  aliae  species;  unguenlaque  mira  feruntur 
Tempus  in  aeternum  sacrum  servantia  corpus."^ 

The  Romans,  nevertheless,  often  contented  themselves, 
in  washing  and  rubbing  the  body  with  certain  perfumes. 
"Tarquinii  corpus  bona  femina  lavit  et  unxit.""^ 

1  They  burned  the  incense  of  Arabia,  balms  and  perfumes  of  every 
kind  filled  a  thousand  vases,  and  the  body  is  for  ever  preserved  from 
corruption  by  essences  possessing  wonderful  properties. 

2  A  benevolent  woman  washed  the  body  of  Tarquin,  and  rubbed  it  with 
perfumes. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

The  Egyptian  mummies,  which  are  distinguished  from 
those  of  other  nations  by  the  admirable  state  of  preserva- 
tion in  which  we  find  them  at  the  present  time,  have  been 
for  the  philosopher  a  subject  of  interesting  study  and  re- 
search,— for  the  ignorant,  a  cause  of  astonishment  and  su- 
perstitious fear;  for  physicians,  an  empyrical  remedy  for  a 
long  time  in  vogue.  The  history  of  Razevil,  the  Pole,  proves 
the  evil  influence  attributed  to  mummies.  He  had  purchased 
at  Alexandria,  two  Egyptian  mummies,  one  of  a  man,  the 
other  of  a  woman,  in  order  to  take  them  to  Europe ;  he  di- 
vided them  into  six  pieces,  which  he  separately  enclosed  in 
as  many  boxes,  made  of  the  bark  of  dried  trees,  and  in  a 
seventh  box  he  placed  idols  discovered  with  the  two  bodies. 
But,  as  the  Turks  forbid  the  sale  and  transport  of  these  mum- 
mies, fearing  lest  Christians  might  compose  some  sorcery  of 
them  to  the  injury  of  their  nation,  the  Polonaise  concluded 
to  bribe  the  Jew  commissioned  to  examine  the  bales  and 
merchandise.  The  plan  succeeded,  the  Jew  shipped  all  the 
cases  as  shells,  to  be  transported  to  Europe.  Previous  to 
setting  sail,  I  found,  says  he,  a  priest  returning  from  Jeru- 
salem, and  who  could  not  accomplish  his  voyage  without 
the  aid  which  I  gave  him  on  this  occasion,  in  inviting  him 
to  take  passage  in  our  ship.  One  day,  whilst  this  good  man 
was  occupied  in  counting  his  breviary,  there  arose  a  furious 
tempest,  and  he  warned  us,  that  besides  the  danger,  he  per- 
ceived two  great  obstacles  to  our  voyage  in  two  spectres, 
which  continually  haunted  him :  the  tempest  over,  I  taunted 
him  as  a  visionary,  because  I  never  imagined  that  my  mum- 
mies could  have  been  the  cause  of  it.  But  I  was  obliged  in 
the  sequel  to  change  my  opinion,  when  there  happened  an- 
other storm,  more  violent  and  dangerous  than  the  first,  and 
when  the  spectres  again  appeared  to  our  priest  whilst  he 
was  saying  his  prayers,  under  the  figures  of  a  man  and  wo- 
man dressed  as  my  mummies  were. 

When  the  tempest  was  partially  appeased,  I  privately 
threw  overboard  the  seven  boxes,  which  was  not  so  adroitly 
executed,  hoAvever,  but  that  the  captain  got  notice  of  it, 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

when,  with  great  dehght,  he  promised  us  that  we  should 
have  no  more  storms;  which  effectively  happened,  and  the 
good  priest  was  troubled  with  no  more  visions,  I  liad  a  se- 
vere reprimand  from  the  captain  for  having  embarked  these 
mummies  in  his  vessel,  against  which  the  sea  had  so  great 
antipathy.  The  theologians  of  the  isle  of  Crete,  where  we 
anchored,  justified  my  conduct,  acknowledging  that  it  was 
lawful  to  Christians  to  transport  these  mummies  for  the  as- 
sistance of  the  infirm,  and  that  the  church  did  not  forbid  the 
usage." 

The  judgment  of  the  theologians  of  the  isle  of  Crete,  proves 
that  the  employment  of  the  mummy  as  a  medicine  was  uni- 
versally admitted.  According  to  Dioscorides,  it  is  heating 
and  drying  in  the  second  degree — it  relieves  the  headach, 
cures  megraim,  palsy,  and  epilepsy — wonderful  in  relieving 
vertigo  and  drowsiness — an  antidote  against  poisons  of  all 
kinds — the  bite  of  venomous  beasts — useful,  according  to 
Rhasis,  in  the  spitting  of  blood,  rupture  of  blood-vessels, 
wounds,  &c.; — in  one  word,  no  remedy  was  esteemed  more 
efficacious  for  the  human  body,  than  the  human  bod}^  taken 
as  a  medicine.  One  dram  of  the  oil  of  mummy  of  Para- 
celsus, rendered  all  poisons  innocuous  for  twenty-four  hours; 
the  formula  of  Crollius,  of  Fernel,  of  Clauderus,  produced 
effects  equally  miraculous.  The  divine  water  of  Scroder, 
was  the  touch-stone  by  whose  aid  the  issue  of  a  disorder 
could  be  known  in  advance :  a  dram  of  this  liquor  was 
mixed  with  nine  drops  of  the  blood  of  the  patient,  or  with  a 
double  proportion  of  his  urine ;  if  these  fluids  did  not  mix, 
it  was  an  infallible  sign  of  approaching  death;  on  the  other 
hand,  if  they  mixed  readily,  you  might  anticipate  the  health 
or  cure  of  the  patient  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  great 
king,  Francis  1st,  wore  around  his  neck  a  piece  of  mummy 
as  a  preservative  against  all  evils.  Powerless  preservative ! 

I  have  designedly  placed,  after  an  example  of  supersti- 
tion, facts  which  prove  the  stupidity,  or  charlatanism  of  the 
profession,  it  appearing  to  me  instructive  to  preserve  the 
progressive  ascendency;  the  march  from  the  little  to  the  great, 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

in  ridicule,  as  in  everything  else,  is  absurd.  The  difficulty 
of  obtaining  mummies  enough  to  satisfy  the  demand,  gave 
rise  to  an  abominable  traffic,  against  which  many  physicians 
remonstrated.  "The  base  avidity  of  gain  increased  daily, 
and  they  commenced  embalming  with  salt  and  alum  the 
bodies  of  those  who  had  died  of  leprosy,  of  plague,  or  small 
pox,  in  order  to  obtain,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  the 
cadaverous  rottenness  which  flowed  from  them,  and  to  sell 
this  for  true  and  legitimate  mummy;  and  even  at  the  pre- 
sent time,  they  make  no  scruples  to  give  the  name  of  mum- 
my to  the  dead  bodies  found  in  the  Deserts  of  Arabia,  and 
make  patients  take  it  internally." — (Durenou.)  The  cha- 
racters of  a  mummy  of  good  quality,  had,  nevertheless,  been 
well  determined.  "Those  bodies  are  not  mummies,"  says 
Penicher,  "dried  by  the  sands  of  Lybia,  nor  those  buried 
and  preserved  beneath  the  snow;  nor  those  bodies  sub- 
merged by  the  sea,  thrown  up  and  dried  on  the  coast,  even 
to  the  last  degree  of  blackness;  nor  of  criminals,  hung  and 
dried  in  the  sun — for  these  are  of  no  use." — (Ant.  Sun- 
torel.)  The  Pissasphaltum,  which  is  the  mummy  of  the 
Arabians  and  the  ancients,  according  to  Serapion  and  Avi- 
cenna,  is  not  what  we  desire ;  because  the  odour  is  disagree- 
able, and  it  can  possess  no  other  virtue  than  a  mixture  of 
pitch  and  asphaltum.  Neither  is  mummy  a  certain  fluid 
which  flows  from  the  cofluis  of  embalmed  bodies,  mentioned 
by  Dioscorides  and  Mathioles,  and  which  is  only,  properly 
speaking,  a  mixture  of  humours,  mixed,  soaked,  and  pene- 
trated by  aromatics,  of  which  the  embalming  consists. 

Andrew  Gryphius  teaches  us,  that  a  good  mummy  ought 
to  be  reddish,  light,  greasy,  and  with  some  odour,  but  as  the 
embalming  materials  vary  much,  as  well  as  their  quality, 
the  bodies  being  more  or  less  well  preserved,  and  it  is  even 
possible  they  may  be  poisonous,  it  has  appeared  expedient 
to  compose  a  mummy  methodically  digested.  Among  the 
numerous  formulae  for  officinal  mummies,  we  shall  content 
ourselves  with  citing  here  that  of  Crollius. 

Mummy  of  Crollius.  Choose  the  body  of  a  hanged  per- 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

son,  prelerriiig  one  with  red  hair,  because  hi  this  sort  of 
temperament  the  blood  is  thinner;  the  flesh  impregnated 
with  aromatics  is  better,  being  filled  with  sulphur  and  bal- 
samic salt;  it  ought  to  be  about  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
healthy,  whole,  and  of  good  constitution;  you  will  take 
pieces  of  the  flesh  of  this  corpse,  they  would  be  still  better 
if  taken  from  the  body  of  a  living  man ;  notably,  from 
the  thighs,  buttocks,  &c.;  strip  them  of  their  arteries,  nerves, 
veins,  and  fat,  and  then  wash  them  well  with  spirits  of 
wine;  then  expose  them  to  the  sun  and  moon  for  two  days, 
during  mild  and  dry  weather,  to  the  end  that  the  action 
of  the  rays  of  light  of  these  two  planets,  particularly  of  the 
sun,  may  exalt  and  liberate  the  principles  concentered  in 
the  flesh;  powder  it  with  myrrh,  styrax,  aloes,  saflron,  which 
constitute  the  basis  of  the  elixir  proprietatis  of  Paracelsus; 
having  previously  rubbed  the  flesh  with  true  balm,  macerate 
it  for  twelve  or  fifteen  days  in  a  well  corked  vessel  with 
first  qviality  spirits  of  wine  and  salt,  which  form  of  them- 
selves a  species  of  balm:  at  the  end  of  this  time  withdraw 
the  flesh,  let  it  drain,  and  dry  in  the  sun;  let  them  again, 
for  the  same  space  of  time,  and  in  the  same  manner,  mace- 
rate in  a  similar  fluid,  and  expose  it  afterwards  to  the  sun 
and  fire,  in  the  same  manner  they  do  hams;  flesh  thus  pre- 
pared will  be  found  to  be  an  excellent  mummy." 

Conceding  that  the  use  of  the  mummy  in  medicine  is  one 
of  the  strangest  and  most  extravagant  abuses  of  empyricism, 
the  officinal  mummy  of  Crollius  must  be  considered  as  an 
improvement,  inasmuch  as  it  is  divested  of  the  dangers  at- 
tached to  other  mummies;  it  was  even  a  benefit,  for  this  re- 
medy divested  of  the  marvellous,  reditced  to  the  level  of  a 
common  drug,  was  justly  appreciated  and  soon  forgotten. 
The  art  of  embalming  among  the  Egyptians  and  Guanches, 
was  carried  to  a  degree  of  perfection  attained  by  no  other 
nation  who  followed  their  example.  And,  nevertheless, 
what  are  the  mummies  of  these  countries?  They  are,  ac- 
cording to  the  definition  of  R.  P.  Kircher,  bodies  stuffed  and 
filled  with  odoriferant,  aromatic,  and  balsamic  drugs,  capa- 

3 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

ble  of  arresting  the  progress  of  putrid  decomposition.  Nu- 
merous incisions  enabled  the  preservative  matter  to  enter 
the  cavities  and  deep  tissues:  agreeably  to  the  relations  of 
Herodotus,  of  Diodorus  Sicculus,  and  of  Porphyrus,  the  cra- 
nium was  emptied  either  through  the  nostrils,  or  by  an  open- 
ing made  in  one  of  the  orbits :  the  contents  of  the  thorax 
and  abdomen  were  withdrawn  and  placed  in  a  trunk.  "  The 
Egyptians,"  says  Plutarch,  "drew  the  intestines  from  the 
dead  bodies,  and,  after  having  exposed  them  to  the  sun, 
cast  them  away  as  the  cause  of  all  the  sins  committed  by 
man." 

The  moderns  have  adopted  an  analogous  mode  of  prepa- 
ration, and  in  our  days,  previous  to  my  researches  on  the 
preservation  of  animal  matters,  the  processes  of  embalming 
were  long  and  complicated. 

In  the  Dictionary  of  Medicine,  of  twenty-five  volumes, 
(Paris,  1835,^  M.  Murat  traces  in  these  terms  the  rules  for 
embalming : 

"  Before  commencing  this  operation,  it  is  necessary  to  pro- 
cure the  following  objects:  alcohol  saturated  with  camphor, 
camphorated  vinegar,  a  varnish  composed  of  the  balsams  of 
Perou  and  copaiba,  fluid  styrax,  the  oils  of  Muscat,  of  la- 
vender, and  of  thyme,  &c.,  alcohol  saturated  with  proto- 
chloride  of  mercury,  a  powder  composed  of  tan,  of  decrepi- 
tated salt,  of  quinquina,  of  cascarilla,  of  mint,  of  benzoin,  of 
castor,  of  Jew's  pitch,  &c. — all  these  substances  mixed  and 
reduced  to  a  fine  powder,  are  sprinkled  with  essential  oils. 
The  powdered  tan  ought  to  form  nearly  half  the  weight, 
and  the  salt  one-fourth ;  there  ought  also  be  placed,  at  the 
disposition  of  the  embalmer,  a  certain  number  of  bandages, 
linen,  sponges,  and  waxed  threads,  also  several  basins  filled 
with  pure  water,  &c. 

"  The  breast  and  belly  must  be  opened  by  large  incisions, 
and  their  contents  extracted ;  the  brain  is  removed  after  the 
necessary  incisions  of  the  scalp,  and  sawing  circularly  the 
bones  of  the  cranium;  deep  and  repeated  incisions  are  to  be 
made  in  the  viscera.     If  we  wish  to  preserve  the  intestinal 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

tube,  we  must  open  it  throughout  its  whole  length,  wash  it 
well  in  water  and  compress  it ;  wash  it  a  second  time  in 
camphorated  vinegar,  and  finally  with  camphorated  alco- 
hol. Large  incisions  must  be  multiplied  on  the  interior  sur- 
faces of  the  great  cavities,  and  along  the  extremities." 

I  stop  at  these  details,  because  they  suffice  to  prove  that 
the  art  of  embalming,  down  to  the  present,  has  had  for  its 
object,  not  the  preservation  of  the  whole  subject  intact,  but 
the  preparation  of  animal  matters  padded,  stuffed  with  aro- 
matics  and  salts :  a  preparation  always  incomplete,  tedious, 
and  expensive.  This  is  the  point  from  which  I  start  in  the 
preservation  of  animal  matter,  and  the  art  of  embalming. 
Have  I  the  happiness  of  adding  a  step  to  science  ?  my  readers 
shall  be  the  judges. 

The  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Medicine,  have  proved  that,  by  one  of  my  processes,  sub- 
jects destined  for  dissection  can  be  preserved.  Bodies  kept 
for  several  months,  and  afterwards  carried  to  the  amphi- 
theatre, have  been  fomid  as  fresh  and  a?  fit  for  dissection, 
as  individuals  dead  only  two  days.* 

These  early  successes,  and  the  honourable  encouragements 
which  they  have  received,  gave  me  the  idea  of  bringing  the 
art  of  embalming  to  perfection;  and  I  have  attained  to  the 
power  of  preserving  bodies,  with  all  their  parts,  both  in- 
ternal and  external,  ivithout  any  mutilation  or  extrac- 
tion, and  so  as  to  admit  of  the  contemjjlation  of  the  per- 
son embalmed,  with  the  countenance  of  one  asleep. 

This  discovery  has  been  confirmed  by  a  commission  of 
the  Academy  of  Sciences,  who,  in  its  public  sitting  in  the 
month  of  August,  1837,  conferred  upon  me  the  grand  prize. 

Having  decided  to  publish  the  result  of  my  researches,  I 
thought  it  best  to  precede  it  by  a  general  history  of  embalm- 
ing, and  it  appeared  to  me  that  a  book  which  would  re- 

♦  Tlie  colour  of  the  tissues  is  changed,  however,  being  bleached  by  the 
acetate  of  alumine— but  this  is  far  preferable  to  the  black  putridity, 
which  renders  the  anatomical  subject  so  disgusting  and  unhealthy,  when 
^subjects  are  scarce.  —  Tr. 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

unite  so  many  interesting  documents  up  to  the  present  time 
scattered  throughout  so  many  works,  would  not  be  without 
interest.  If  my  readers  join  with  me  in  this  opinion,  I  shall 
not  have  laboured  in  vain,  and  my  work  shall  have  received 
that  recompense  of  which  I  am  most  ambitious. 

Nevertheless,  I  conceived  that  my  endeavour  should  not 
be  restricted  to  the  simple  exposition  of  my  researches,  and 
that  it  was  a  duty  I  owed,  to  place  at  the  disposition  of  my 
fellow  citizens  the  means  of  continuing  some  relations  with 
the  remains  of  persons  whom  they  had  held  dear.  The 
sentiments  of  love,  friendship,  respect,  and  veneration,  which 
preserves  in  our  hearts  as  a  sacred  depot,  the  memory  of 
friends  and  relations,  give,  even  to  an  indifferent  portrait, 
which  recalls  their  features  to  us,  an  inappreciable  value. 
The  heart  warms  and  vivifies  this  faint  image,  and  recalls 
to  us  the  words  and  actions  of  those  who  have  departed. 

These  same  sentiments  cause  us  painfully  to  experience 
the  full  rigour  of  that  law  of  nature  which  condemns  to  the 
decomposition  of  the  grave,  remains  so  sacred  to  us.  I 
have  desired  to  offer  to  persons  groaning  under  an  afflicting 
loss,  the  means  of  preserving  all  that  death  has  left  them ; 
with  this  intention  I  have  founded  an  Embalming  Society, 
and  I  have  placed  the  price  for  this  operation  within  the 
reach  of  the  majority  of  persons.  For  men  destitute  of  re- 
sources, who  have  rendered  themselves  worthy,  by  their 
talents  or  virtues,  of  the  remembrance  of  their  species,  the 
public  authorities  may  reclaim  of  us  a  gratuitous  embalm- 
ing. We  shall  be  happy  to  preserve  to  society  the  mortal 
spoils  of  those  who  honour  and  are  useful  to  it. 


HISTORY  OF  EMBALMING. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF    EMBALMING    IN    GENERAL. 

As  soon  as  life  ceases  in  animal  matter,  disorgan- 
ization commences ;  the  constituent  elements  sepa- 
rate, to  be  variously  recombined,  and  to  give  birth 
to  new  compounds. 

The  elevation  of  atmospheric  temperature  in 
certain  determined  hydrometric  limits,  and  the  ac- 
tion of  oxygen,  are  those  circumstances  which  lead 
necessarily  to  this  decomposition.  But,  at  a  given 
temperature,  the  progress  of  putrid  fermentation  is 
not  the  same  for  all  animals;  this  varies  among  dif- 
ferent species,  and  different  individuals  of  similar 
species,  according  to  laws  not  well  determined. 
But  so  important,  however,  are  these  laws,  to  the 
art  of  embalming,  that  processes  which  are  suffi- 
cient for  the  perservation  of  one  body,  may  fail  in 
their  application  to  others. 

The  ancients  had  well  observed,  it  is  true,  that 
the  diversity  of  climates  contributed  much  to  the 
difference  in  mummies,  and  to  the  success  of  em- 
balming ;  for,  according  to  Camerarius,  great  differ- 
ence exists  between  the  bodies  of  Europeans  and 


22         OF  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL. 

Orientals ;  the  latter,  of  a  dryer  temperament,  are 
not  exposed  to  so  rapid  a  decomposition.  The  ex- 
ample related  by  Ammian  Marcellni  is  a  convinc- 
ing proof.  Four  days,  says  he,  after  a  combat 
between  the  Persians  and  Romans,  the  counte- 
nance of  the  latter  could  scarcely  be  recognised;  the 
bodies  of  the  Persians,  on  the  contrary,  were  dry, 
without  humidity,  without  sanies,  and  without  any 
alteration. 

If  sufficient  attention  is  given  to  this  fact,  and  we 
consider  further,  that  the  thermometrical  and  hy- 
grometrical  conditions  of  the  atmosphere  were  such 
in  Egypt,  that  the  bodies  abandoned  to  themselves, 
become  dried  and  formed  natural  mummies,  we 
shall  perceive  how  vain  and  unreasonable  have  been 
the  attempts  of  those  who,  for  a  long  series  of  ages, 
expected  in  the  middle  and  northern  portions  of 
Europe  to  embalm  human  bodies  by  processes 
which  are  only  an  imperfect  imitation  of  those  of 
Egypt,  even  in  what  is  defective.  Finally,  we  shall 
understand  how  it  happens  that  the  sepulchres  of  the 
Guanches  and  Egyptians,  yield  bodies  in  such  a 
perfect  state  of  perservation,  whilst  those  of  our 
country  offi3r  only  bones  and  dust. 

Whilst  according  to  the  Egyptians  the  just  tri- 
bute of  admiration  which  their  profound  wisdom 
and  extensive  acquirements  merit,  we  ought,  in  a 
scientific  question,  to  defend  ourselves  from  the  in- 
fatuation of  our  predecessors,  which  led  them  into 
error,  and  appreciate  at  their  just  value  facts  badly 
observed. 

We  read  in  the  letters  of  M.  de  Maillet,  "  the  dry 
and  nitrous  earth  of  Egypt  has  the  property  of  na- 


OF  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL.         23 

turally  preserving  entire  bodies  without  the  aid  of 
any  art,  especially  in  those  countries  at  a  distance 
from  the  Nile.  This  is  a  fact  which  experience  does 
not  permit  us  to  doubt.  Not  long  since,  there  were 
buried  some  Frenchmen,  in  a  Coptic  church  which 
is  in  old  Cairo,  and  those  who  descended  the  cavern 
found  the  bodies  of  others  who  had  been  previously 
deposited  for  some  time,  as  perfect  as  they  were  the 
very  day  that  they  were  inhumed  :  The  clothes 
even  of  a  Venetian  consul,  whose  corpse  had  been 
here  interred,  were  perfectly  preserved.  I  have 
likewise  visited  several  ancient  Mosques,  formerly 
celebrated,  but  now  in  ruins,  which  are  situated  on 
the  road  from  Cairo  to  Suez;  these  edifices  have 
served  as  tombs  to  some  Mahommedan  kings,  whose 
bodies  were  here  deposited,  during  the  period  when 
Egypt  was  subject  to  the  Arabs.  I  investigated 
some  of  these  caverns,  and  can  assert  that  I  observ- 
ed bodies  so  light  from  desiccation  that  they  could 
be  raised  with  one  hand  as  easily  as  if  they  were  a 
walking  stick.  Among  these  bodies,  was  one 
which  weighed  less  than  four  pounds  ;  I  saw  also  a 
thigh,  which,  although  it  appeared  entire  and  full 
of  flesh,  with  the  leg  and  foot  attached,  did  not 
weigh  one  pound.  Finally,  the  same  thing  is 
daily  observed  by  the  caravans  which  go  to  Mecca. 
There  are  none  of  these  wanderers  who  have  made 
this  voyage,  who  could  not  testify  that  the  bodies 
of  those  who  die  on  the  route,  are  dried  to  such  a 
decree  as  to  become  as  light  as  straw." 

If,  then,  we  would  wish  to  judge  a  priori  of  the 
relative  value  of  the  processes  of  embalming,  follow- 
ed by  the  people  of  Asia  and  Africa,  and  of  those 


24         OF  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL. 

employed  by  European  nations,  we  ought  to  start 
from  this  double  fact — that  among  the  first,  bodies 
abandoned  to  themselves  have  a  tendency  to  dry 
and  mummify,  both  on  account  of  the  small  quan- 
tity of  fluid  they  contain,  and  on  account  of  atmos- 
pheric influences ;  whilst  those  of  the  second,  rot 
and  dissolve  under  the  influence  of  contrary  causes. 

We  think  then,  with  M.  Rouyer,  member  of  the 
Egyptian  commission,  ttiat  tlie  most  efficacious 
cause  of  the  perfection  of  the  art  of  embalming  of 
the  Egyptians,  and  of  the  wonderful  preservation 
of  the  mummies,  was  the  climate  of  Egypt,  and 
chiefly  that  elevated  and  equal  temperature  (20°  R.) 
which  exists  in  the  interior  of  sepulchral  chambers, 
and  in  all  subterranean  places  specially  consecrated 
to  sepulchres.  A  fact  which  ought  to  be  joined  to 
this  last,  has  been  proved  by  MM.  Docts.  Bou- 
cherie,  Bermont,  and  Gaubert,  during  a  visit  to  the 
caves  of  St.  Michle  at  Bordeaux.  These  caverns 
which  contain  seventy  bodies,  taken  from  the  neigh- 
bouring sepulchres  forty  years  ago,  and  mummified 
by  causes  of  which  we  shall  speak  in  the  sequel, 
are  of  a  temperature  of  eighteen  degrees. 

In  order  to  terminate  this  discussion  by  a  fact 
universally  known,  the  mummies  preserved  un- 
touched for  several  thousand  years  in  the  caverns  of 
Egypt,  become  altered  and  destroyed  very  rapidly, 
when  transported  into  Europe,  and  divested  of  their 
bandages,  they  are  exposed  to  the  influence  of  our 
atmosphere.* 

*  The  above  observations  on  the  natural  nnummies  of  caverns,  &c. , 
apply  equally  to  the  numerous  specimens  of  Indian  mummies  found  in 
Peru,  Brazil,  the  Western  States  of  North  America,  &c. — TV. 


ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL.         25 

These  various  observations  convince  me  that  a 
precise  knowledge  of  the  art  of  embalming  among 
the  ancients,  would  not  suffice  to  preserve  bodies  in 
our  country ;  and  what  we  do  know,  decides  me  to 
push  my  researches  in  another  direction. 

Besides,  the  methods  for  embalming  have  varied 
with  time,  place,  and  circumstances.  The  Ethio- 
pians, inhabiting  a  country  which  furnishes  in  it- 
self more  gum  than  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  enclosing  the  body  in  a  melted 

In  the  autumn  of  1839,  in  my  journey  down  the  Rhine,  I  visited  Pop- 
plesdorf,  near  Bonn,  where  there  is  an  ancient  church,  formerly  a  mo- 
nastery, called  "  the  Kreuzberg."  It  is  situate  on  a  high  and  dry  hill.  I 
descended  its  vault  in  order  to  examine  some  two  dozen  of  mummified 
monks,  some  of  them  four  centuries  old.  They  were  all  habited  in  the 
costume  of  the  period,  and  appeared  to  have  died  at  an  advanced  age. 
These  are  natural  mummies,  or  the  result  of  simple  desiccation,  the 
skin  resembling  leather.  It  is  probable  that  we  may  refer  to  similar 
causes,  those  interesting  subjects  discovered  three  or  four  years  ago,  in 
a  cave  of  the  church  of  St.  Thomas,  at  Strasburg,  viz.,  the  mummified 
bodies  of  the  Count  de  Naussau  (Sarsbruc/c)  and  his  daughter.  These 
relics,  six  hundred  years  old,  are  both  habited  in  the  costume  of  that 
epoch;  the  coat,  small-clothes,  &c. ,  of  the  father,  have  been  replaced 
by  exact  imitations,  but  the  habits  of  the  daughter  are  actually  those  in 
which  she  was  buried,  consisting  of  a  blue  silk  gown,  richly  ornamented 
with  lace,  with  diamond  rings  on  her  fingers,  and  jewels  on  her  breast. 
The  body  is  well  preserved,  with  the  exception  of  the  face :  bunches  of 
silvered  flowers  still  adorn  the  top  of  the  head,  arms  and  shoulders. 
The  features  of  the  Count  are  almost  perfect.  I  could  not  observe  any 
external  signs  of  artificial  embalming  having  been  resorted  to.  The  skin 
was  of  a  yellowish  colour.  The  famous  mummy  of  St.  Carlo  Boromeo, 
in  the  vault  of  the  splendid  Duomo  di  Milano,  is  another  remarkable  in- 
stance— the  body  is  as  black  and  solid  as  an  Egyptian  mummy  ;  it  was 
removed  from  a  cemetry  in  the  vicinity,  after  having  remained  there 
many  years ;  no  artificial  means  had  been  resorted  to  for  its  preservation. 

The  climate  and  soil  of  Egypt  have  been  equally  efficient  in  preserv- 
ing vegetable  life.  The  French  naturalists  who  accompanied  the  army 
to  Egypt,  sent  home  fruits,  living  seeds,  and  other  portions  of  twenty 
different  plants,  including  the  common  wheat  and  onion  of  the  present 
day — as  was  proved  by  the  germination  of  the  seeds  and  roots  in  Eu- 
rope. — 7V. 

4 


26         ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL. 

mass  of  this  transparent  matter,  and  tTius  to  pre- 
serve them  hke  insects  enveloped  in  fluid  amber, 
and  which  are  found  uninjured  and  very  visible  in 
the  middle  of  this  substance  w^hen  solidified.  This 
mode  of  preservation  has  led  some  to  suppose,  that 
the  Ethiopians  preserved  their  dead  bodies  in  glass. 
Honey  was  formerly  used  for  embalming ;  the  body 
of  Alexander  the  Great  was  rubbed  with  honey,  as 
the  following  verses  prove  : 

"  Due  et  ad  aemathios  manes,  ubi  belliger  urbis 
Conditor  hiblseo  perfusus  neciare  durat." 

This  use  of  honey  is  further  confirmed  by  J.  B. 
Baricel,  Andre  Rivin,  and  R.  P.  Menestrier.  Pliny, 
book  xxii.  chap.  24,  says  that  honey  is  of  such  a 
nature,  that  bodies  placed  in  it  do  not  corrupt. 

They  made  use  also  of  wax  for  embalming,  as  we 
read  in  Emilius  Probus,  at  the  end  of  the  life  of 
Agesilas  :  "  Having  fallen  sick,  he  died,  and  that 
his  friends  might  the  more  conveniently  carry  him 
to  Sparta,  for  want  of  honey  they  enveloped  his 
body  in  wax."  The  Persians,  on  the  report  of  Ci- 
cero, employed  the  same  matter  :  Persse  jam  cera. 
circumlitos  condiunt,  ut  quam  maxime  permaneant 
diuturna  corpora. 

The  ancients  also  made  use  of  a  sort  of  brine,  the 
composition  of  which  is  unknown.  Coelius  Rodigi- 
nus,  in  his  book  of  antiquities,  remarks  that,  during 
the  pontificat  of  Sextus  IV.  they  found  on  the  Ap- 
pien  way  the  body  of  a  girl,  retaining  still  all  the 
beauty  of  her  face,  the  hair  of  a  golden  blond,  and 
tied  up  with  bands,  also  gilded — it  was  thus  pre- 
served in  a  brine,  which  entirely  covered  it,  and  it 
was  thought  to  be  the  body  of  TuUiola,  the  daughter 


ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL.         27 

of  Cicero.  And  Valateron  assures  us  that,  by  a  pre- 
paration of  an  unknown  salt,  the  body  of  another 
female  was  also  found  entire  in  a  mausoleum  near 
Albania,  in  the  time  of  Alexander  VI.;  this  Pope  or- 
dered it  to  be  thrown  secretly  into  the  Tiber,  fear- 
ing the  superstition  of  the  people,  who  run  from  all 
parts  to  see  it,  because  the  body  still  retained  its 
beauty,  although  thirteen  centuries  had  elapsed  since 
its  deposition. 

The  Jews,  after  closing  the  mouth  and  eyes  of 
the  dead,  shaved  them,  w^ashed  and  rubbed  them 
with  perfumes,  then  enclosed  them  in  a  coffin  along 
with  myrrh,  aloes,  and  other  aromatics,  in  great  pro- 
fusion. 

The  Egyptians  had  a  great  number  of  processes 
for  embalming.  The  valuable  w^ork  of  M.  Rouyer 
places  this  fact  beyond  a  doubt :  natron,  cedria,  bitu- 
men, asplialtmn,pisasphaltum,  different  aromatic  sub- 
stances to  drive  off  insects,  varnishes,  more  or  less 
costly,  were  used  in  their  different  preparations; 
finally,  bandages  multiplied,  and  endued  with  gum 
Arabic,  closed  all  access  to  air  and  humidity.  The 
mummies  of  the  Guanches,  which  so  closely  resem- 
ble some  of  those  of  Egypt,  were  sewn  up  in  skins, 
after  having  been  stuffed  with  aromatics  and  dried 
in  the  sun. 

The  moderns  have  employed  for  the  preservation 
of  dead  bodies,  numerous  substances  both  fluid  and 
solid ;  spirits  of  wine,  oils,  tinctures,  compound  lini- 
ments, brines,  etc.,  constitute  the  first  class;  pow- 
ders, composed  of  all  parts  of  balsamic  and  aromatic 
plants,  form  the  second. 

We  shall  examine,  hereafter,  more  in  detail  these 


28         ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL. 

various  systems  of  preservation — nevertheless,  what 
we  have  mentioned,  proves  that  they  were  only  in 
a  slight  deo^ree  efficacious.  And  even  the  so  much 
boasted  methods  of  Clauderus,  Derasieres,  &c.,  and 
the  wonderful  secrets  of  Debils,  Ruysh,  Swammer- 
dam,  appear  to  us  only  applicable  to  retard  a  little 
while  the  progress  of  decomposition.  The  following 
is  extracted  from  the  article  Anatomical  Preparations 
of  the  Dictionary  of  Medical  Sciences : 

"  It  is  said  that  Ruysh  possessed  the  means  of 
preserving  the  flexibility  and  other  vital  properties 
of  the  different  tissues  of  our  bodies.  When  the 
Dutch  anatomist  sold  his  cabinet  to  the  Czar,  Peter 
L,  he  gave  a  manuscript  in  which  he  made  known 
the  composition  of  a  preservative  fluid,  expressly 
stating  that  this  liquor  was  nothing  more  than  spi- 
rits of  wine ;  the  spirit  of  malt,  to  which  was  only 
added,  during  distillation,  a  handful  of  white  pep- 
per. But  it  appeared  that  Ruysh  had  not  given  the 
true  composition  of  his  liquor,  or  rather,  that  he  had 
exaggerated  the  virtues  of  it,  for  it  is  far  from  pos- 
sessing the  effects  which  have  been  attributed  to  it. 
After  the  death  of  Ruysh,  they  thought  they  had 
discovered  his  means  of  preserving.  In  1731,  Geof- 
froy  was  charged  to  make  experiments ;  but  the  re- 
sults did  not  correspond  to  the  anticipations." 

We  find  in  a  note  added  by  Strader,  at  the  end  of 
his  edition  of  the  works  of  Harvey,  another  version 
relative  to  the  proceedings  of  Swammerdam,  which 
is  as  follows : 

"  It  is  with  reason,"  says  he,  "  that  we  prefer  to 
the  Egyptian  method,  an  art  which  so  hardens  dead 
bodies,  that  they  lose  nothing  of  their  substance. 


ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL.         29 

and  change  neither  in  colour,  nor  in  form ;  that  they 
leave  to  the  anatomist  all  desirable  leisure  for  ex- 
amination, without  presenting  any  effusion  of  blood, 
nor  that  disgusting  filth  so  repugnant  to  the  delicate 
practitioner,  and  which  frequently  prevents  the  ex- 
amination of  the  entrails  of  subjects. 

"I  shall  publish,  as  was  communicated  to  me, 
this  admirable  process,  in  which  I  w^as  formerly  li- 
berally initiated  by  CI.  Dn.  Swammerdam,  which 
is  beyond  all  praise.  It  is  necessary,  then,  to  obtain 
a  pewter  vessel  of  sufficient  size  to  contain  the  body 
to  be  embalmed ;  place  at  the  distance  of  about  two 
fingers  depth  of  the  bottom,  a  hurdle  of  wood,  pierced 
with  many  holes;  place  the  body  on  this  hurdle, 
and  pour  on  oil  of  turpentine  to  the  height  of  three 
fingers,  keep  the  vessel  quiet,  tightly,  and  less  and 
less  hermetically  covered  during  a  certain  space  of 
time ;  in  this  manner  the  oil,  of  a  penetrating  na- 
ture, will  infiltrate  by  degrees  into  the  body  on 
which  it  is  poured,  and  will  expel  the  aqueous  por- 
tions, the  principle  cause  of  the  fermentation  which 
tends  to  corruption.  This  aqueous  portion  descend- 
ing by  its  specific  gravity,  and  distilling  through 
the  flesh,  will,  in  time,  occupy  the  space  between 
this  and  the  bottom,  and  during  this  time  the  more 
subtle  part  of  the  balm  will  exhale,  as  the  vessel  is 
less  closely  covered ;  the  more  it  evaporates,  the 
harder  the  body  becomes,  and  will  imbibe  the  thick 
lees  of  the  oil,  the  effect  of  which  may  be  compared 
to  that  of  a  gummy  marrow :  it  can  then,  conse- 
quently, remain  out  of  the  liquor  and  in  open  air 
without  corrupting,  without  any  fear  of  putrefaction, 
or  of  the  worms.    As  to  the  time  necessary  to  allow 


30         ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL. 

the  body  to  remain  in  the  balm,  this  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  subject  to  be  preserved. 
The  following  rules  on  this  head  must  be  observed  : 

"  The  embalming  of  an  embryon  of  six  months, 
may  be  accomplished  in  about  the  same  length  of 
time. 

"  The  skeleton  of  the  same  embryon  requires  only 
about  two  months. 

"  The  membranes  of  the  heart,  three  months. 

"  The  vessels  of  the  liver,  and  of  the  placenta, 
cleared  of  their  flesh,  one  month. 

"  The  vessels  of  the  spleen,  ten  days. 

''  The  intestines,  one  month. 

'*  A  certain  time  is  thus  assigned  for  other  vessels, 
which  would  not  be  difficult  to  discover  or  deter- 
mine by  experiments. 

"  It  is  always  necessary  to  pay  attention,  that  dur- 
ing this  operation,  the  parts  be  a  little  contracted 
and  compressed  in  an  equable  and  convenient  pro- 
portion ;  the  coction  of  the  body  prevents  the  skin 
forming  wrinkles,  whether  it  be  made  before  the  de- 
position in  the  oil,  or  after  it  has  soaked  there  for 
two  months.  In  order  that  the  subject  may  retain 
all  its  beauty  and  whiteness,  it  must  be  macerated 
for  several  days  in  alum  before  embalming  it.  In 
order  that  the  members  may  retain  a  convenient 
form  and  position,  they  ought  to  be  plunged  into 
the  balm  on  the  commencement  of  winter,  about  the 
month  of  November,  to  expose  them  afterwards  to 
the  cold,  not  to  freeze,  but  to  harden  them  lightly. 

"  In  following  this  process,  with  care,  we  destroy 
entirely  all  the  germs  of  putrefaction  concealed  in 
the  body,  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  entrails  even 


ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL.         31 

are  profoundly  penetrated  with  this  bahn,  and  are 
able  to  resist  the  constant  attacks  of  the  air. 

"  If  it  is  desired  to  preserve  a  part,  without  the 
process  above  mentioned,  the  blood  must  first  be 
extracted  by  a  brine,  and  the  salt  subsequently  with- 
drawn by  rain  water,  and,  after  having  placed  it  in 
the  shade  to  prevent  its  putrefying,  endue  it  with  a 
mixture  composed  of  three  quarts  of  oil  of  turpen- 
tine, and  one  quart  of  mastic,  which  will  communi- 
cate a  brilliant  appearance  to  it,  and  even  a  sort  of 
light  crust,  particularly  if  a  greater  quantity  of  mas- 
tic is  used  in  the  preparation. 

"  As  regards  the  preparation  of  the  members  and 
their  appendages,  a  particular  process  must  be  ob 
served.  The  vessels  must  be  well  dried,  of  what- 
ever matter  they  may  consist,  and  afterw^ards  place 
the  rods  in  them  well  fitted  to  the  cavity  ;  and  pre- 
viously endued  with  suet,  which  is  to  be  carefully 
withdra^\ii  in  a  few  days  ;  thus  the  members,  large 
and  small,  ought  to  be  placed  in  cotton,  well  soaked 
in  suet,  to  be  stretched  in  the  direction  of  their 
length,  as,  for  example,  we  stretch  the  meshes  of 
capillary  vessels  on  sticks  rubbed  with  suet,  from 
whence  they  are  readily  detached  by  means  of  a 
little  fire  placed  beneath,  which  causes  the  suet  to 
melt. 

"But  sufficient  has  been  said  for  the  present ;  per- 
haps, hereafter  I  shall  have  a  more  favourable  op- 
portunity to  relate  other  similar  facts,  or  even  more 
admirable ;  for  I  have  seen  with  Swammerdam,  of 
whom  I  have  spoken  above,  various  pieces  embalmed 
with  so  much  talent,  that,  besides  all  their  natural 
properties,  they  possessed  also  that  of  being  always 


32         ON  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL. 

soft  and  flexible ;  I  must  forbear  transmitting  for 
the  present  this  process,  in  order  not  to  lessen  the 
eclat  of  the  fine  work  I  have  just  described,  and  in 
introducing  a  still  more  beautiful  one  on  the  scene, 
etc." 

After  so  precise  a  description,  I  hoped  to  make 
something  out  of  this  process ;  but  nevertheless,  I 
must  confess,  that  after  having  repeated  these  ex- 
periments with  the  greatest  care,  I  was  no  more  suc- 
cessful in  my  trials  than  Mr.  Geoffroy  was  in  173  L ; 
only  I  have  proved  that,  when  bodies  are  prepared 
according  to  my  process,  and  afterwards  plunged 
into  turpentine,  they  preserve  a  remarkable  freshness 
and  suppleness.  After  much  reflection  upon  this  sub- 
ject, I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  Ruysh  and 
Swammerdam  have  never  made  known  but  a  part 
of  their  system  of  preservations,  and  that,  previously 
to  immersing  the  body  in  either  of  the  two  liquids 
of  which  we  have  spoken,  they  subjected  them  to 
some  preparation.  In  fine,  those  very  authors  who 
boast  of  the  admirable  perfection  of  their  processes, 
have  not  left  a  single  preparation  to  show  as  an  ex- 
ample to  justify  their  praises ;  and,  as  a  proof  of  their 
exaggeration,  we  have  the  testimony  of  an  author 
{Penichcr)  profoundly  versed  in  this  matter.  ''  Those 
authors,"  says  he,  "  who  boast  of  having  embalmed 
without  emptying  the  great  cavities,  and  by  con- 
fining themselves  to  injections  by  the  mouth,  by 
the  anus,  or  by  holes  made  in  the  armpits,  would 
be  embarrassed  to  show  satisfactory  results  from 
such  superficial  embalming;  for,  sooner  or  later, 
these  nuisances  will  overcome  all  the  embalmer's  in- 
dustry, and  all  the  expense  he  may  have  been  at  to 


OF  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL.         33 

conquer  a  bad  impression."  Could  there  exist  a 
more  singular  proof  of  this,  than  what  happened  a 
few  years  ago  in  the  church  of  R.  R.  P.  P.,  respect- 
ing the  body  of  a  lady  of  first  quality  ?  The  corpse 
had  been  placed  in  a  leaden  coffin,  and  enclosed  in 
another  of  wood,  and  placed  within  a  marble  mau- 
soleum well  cemented  ;  after  which,  in  order  to  ful- 
fil the  will,  it  was  embalmed,  and  enveloped  in  two 
hundred  pounds  of  aromatics  and  perfumes;  two 
kegs  of  aromatic  spirits  of  wine  were  introduced 
through  an  opening,  so  that  the  body  was  com- 
pletely submerged  in  it.  Nevertheless,  at  the  end 
of  twelve  years  or  thereabout,  it  produced  so  dan- 
gerous and  malignant  a  stench  through  the  cracks 
which  occurred  in  the  coffin,  by  the  expansion  of 
the  drugs,  that  one  of  the  priests,  who  chanced  at 
the  time  to  be  saying  mass  in  his  chapel,  fell  ex- 
tremely ill  from  this  cause,  and  the  assistants  were 
obliged  to  withdraw,  being  unable  to  support  the 
effluvia. 

The  priests  were  under  the  necessity  of  exhum- 
ing the  body,  with  the  consent  of  the  archbishop, 
and  family  of  the  deceased  ;  they  removed  it  to  the 
garden,  placed  it  in  a  ditch,  and  covered  it  with 
quick-lime,  which  not  destroying  the  flesh,  com- 
posed of  oily,  sulphurous,  and  resinous  parts,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  remove  the  flesh  from  the  body, 
in  order  to  replace  the  skeleton  in  the  mausoleum  ; 
to  such  a  degree  did  the  bad  qualities  of  the  entrails 
and  viscera,  corrupted  by  disease,  surpass  the  good 
qualities  of  the  balms.  The  imperfections  of  these 
methods  grow  out  of  their  very  nature.  Along  side 
of  these  embalmings,   practised    in   an   empyrical 

5 


34        OF  EMBALMING  IN  GENERAL. 

manner,  without  any  reference  to  the  qualities  more 
or  less  efficacious,  of  the  aromatic  and  balsamic  sub- 
stances, I  can  place  infants  several  months  old,  sub- 
jects most  susceptible  of  dissolution,  and  which,  after 
a  simple  injection,  have  remained  exposed  to  the  air 
in  a  moist  room.  At  the  end  of  two  years  of  this 
exposure,  they  displayed  a  great  suppleness  of  the 
tissues,  without  the  least  trace  of  decomposition. 
Those  which  I  enclosed  in  cases,  in  the  midst  of  an 
atmosphere  of  my  own  discovery,*  have  preserved 
exactly  the  expression  and  colour  of  the  face,  that 
they  had  at  the  moment  of  death. 

*  This  atmosphere,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  consists  of  the  vapour 
of  oil  of  turpentine.  We  examined  some  of  these  specimens,  which, 
after  a  simple  injection  with  the  solution  of  the  acetate  of  alumine,  were 
exposed  to  a  current  of  air,  and  found  them  as  hard  as  horn  and  some- 
what distorted, — TV. 


NATURAL    MUMMIES.  35 


CHAPTER  II. 

NATURAL    MUMMIES. 

Whilst  man  agitates  and  torments  himself  in 
employing  all  his  activity  to  produce  a  feeble  result, 
nature,  all-powerful,  by  means  of  simple  causes,  pro- 
duces wonderful  effects.  Man  disputes  with  the 
rivers,  the  ocean's  waves,  some  few  acres  of  land, 
which  he  protects  with  great  labour  from  their  over- 
whelming influences.  At  the  voice  of  nature,  ele- 
ments, until  now  foreign  to  each  other,  approximate, 
combine,  and  unite  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  and 
suddenly  throw  up  from  the  middle  of  the  ocean 
vast  isles  and  new  continents.  He  has  need  of  all 
his  industry  to  make  the  sap  circulate  in  a  few  etio- 
lated plants ;  she,  on  the  contrary,  confers  life  and 
motion  to  all  beings,  or  strikes  them  with  torpor  or 
death,  according  as  she  elevates  or  depresses  the  sun 
a  few  degrees  in  the  horizon. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  bodies  of  his  own  image, 
man,  stimulated  by  sentiments  of  religion,  respect, 
or  of  love,  mutilates  in  vain  their  inanimate  spoils ; 
in  vain  he  penetrates  with  aromatics  and  preserva- 
tive juices,  remains,  which  putrefaction  reclaims 
and  seizes.  Nature  covers  with  a  little  snow  the 
traveller  who  scales  the  mountain,  then,  after  cen- 
turies, returns  the  body  unaltered.  She  commands 
the  winds  to  blow  :  the  sands  of  the  desert  are  agi- 
tated, and  the  soldiers  of  Cambyses,  and   the  sol- 


36  NATURAL    MUMMIES. 

diers  of  Alexander,  are  dried  in  the  dust ;  penetrat- 
ing with  some  unknown  bodies  the  entrails  of  the 
earth,  she  there  preserves  the  generations  which 
have  preceded  us. 

Here  is  the  art  of  embalming  in  its  highest  de- 
gree of  perfection ;  here  are  mummies  which  we 
ought  to  desire  to  imitate.  It  must  be  acknowledged, 
that  when  the  Egyptians  and  the  Guanches  trans- 
mitted to  us  their  bodies  in  a  state  of  preservation, 
which  has  been  the  admiration  and  astonishment  of 
ages,  they  owed  as  much,  at  least,  to  the  aid  of  na- 
ture, as  to  the  perfection  of  their  art,  and  the  deve- 
lopment of  their  industry.  If,  then,  we  wish  to 
preserve  the  bodies  of  those  who  excited  our  admi- 
ration or  our  love,  in  place  of  despising  the  mum- 
mies^ which  nature  presents  us  with,  let  us  study 
them,  let  us  seek  with  care,  the  cause  of  their  pre- 
servation, and,  by  reasonable  analyses,  let  us  endea- 
vour to  penetrate  the  secret  of  her  ways. 

If  this  direction  had  been  followed,  convenient 
processes  would  doubtless  have  been  discovered  a 
long  time  ago ;  and  it  never  would  have  been  sup- 
posed possible  to  preserve  a  corpse  with  certainty, 
by  stuffing  it  with  sixty  or  eighty  kinds  of  powdered 
aromatics.  After  such  considerations,  we,  who  have 
substituted  an  experimental  for  an  empyrical  me- 
thod, and  progressed  from  the  known  to  the  un- 

1  The  reverend  Father  Kircher  in  his  chapter  on  mummies,  thinks 
that  these  bodies  do  not  merit  the  name  ;  here  is  what  he  says  in  his 
chapter  iii,  §.  2.  "  But  these  bodies,  dried  and  preserved  in  the  sands 
of  Lybia,  should  not  receive  the  name  of  mu?«/wy,  because  a  mummy  is, 
properly  speaking,  a  body  prepared  after  a  special  process."  Such 
ideas  have  caused  much  empyricism,  and  have  been  most  powerful  ob- 
stacles to  the  progress  of  the  art  of  embalming. 


NATURAL    MUMMIES.  37 

known,   ought,  to  be  consistent,  to  study  natural 
mummies  first. 

Some  have  been  formed  by  the  general  qualities 
of  the  air  and  earth,  others,  by  purely  local  influ- 
ences ;  in  the  first  series,  we  include  the  mummy  of 
the  sand,  and  those  of  avalanches  ;  in  the  second, 
those  discovered  here  and  there  in  certain  sepultures  ; 
in  the  convent  of  the  Capuchins,  near  Palermo  ;  in 
the  caves  of  St.  Michel,  at  Bordeaux  ;  in  the  cemetery 
of  the  church  of  Saint  Nicholas  ;  the  Museum  ;  the 
cloister  of  the  Carmes  ;  the  caves  of  the  Jacobins  and 
the  Cordeliers,  at  Toulouse,  S^c. 

These  last  named  mummies,  the  preservation  of 
which  is  probably  due  to  the  particular  properties 
of  the  soil  in  which  they  were  deposited,  have  been, 
up  to  the  present  day,  objects  of  vulgar  curiosity, 
rather  than  of  attentive  examination. 

Drs.  Boucherie,  Bermont,  and  Gaubert,  have  fa- 
voured me  with  some  notes  taken  during  a  visit  to 
the  caves  of  St.  Michel,  at  Bordeaux,  {August, 
1837.)     I  let  them  speak  for  themselves  : 

"  The  bodies  exposed  to  view  at  Bordeaux,  in  the 
cavern  situated  beneath  the  tower  of  Saint  Michel, 
were  deposited  there  in  1793,  nearly  in  the  same 
state  in  which  they  appear  at  present,  they  came 
from  the  sepulchres  of  the  church  and  the  adjoinino- 
cemetery.  A  great  number  of  bones,  and  the  wreck 
of  soft  parts,  dried  and  preserved  like  the  whole 
bodies,  form  a  layer  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  feet, 
upon  which  are  supported  the  inferior  extremities 
of  seventy  subjects,  arranged  in  a  circle  around  the 
wall,  and  retained  in  a  vertical  position  by  the  cords 
which  bind  them.   Some  of  these,  they  say,  had  re- 


38  NATURAL    MUMMIES. 

mained  in  the  earth  many  centuries,  others  from 
sixty  to  eighty  years  or  more. 

''During  our  visit,  25th  August,  1837,  we  deter- 
mined to  examine  with  care  the  state  of  these  bo- 
dies, those  of  the  middle,  where  they  had  remained 
for  more  than  forty  years,  and  above  all,  we  pro- 
cured strips  of  skin  and  muscle,  in  order  to  examine 
them  at  leisure,  and  to  submit  them  to  some  chemi- 
cal re-agent,  which  might  reveal  to  us  the  presence 
of  the  preservative  element.  We  could  not  hope  to 
collect  any  of  the  earth  that  had  originally  covered 
them,  since  they  were  superposed  on  remnants 
thrown  into  this  place  at  the  time  they  were  en- 
closed here. 

"  After  having  furnished  ourselves  with  a  ther- 
mometer at  24°  R.,  and  a  hygrometer  at  34°,  both 
in  the  open  air,  we  descended  thirty  or  forty  steps, 
which  conducted  us  to  the  cave.  The  coolness  did 
not  appear  to  us  very  striking,  as  it  commonly  is  at 
this  depth  during  the  heat  of  the  dog-star.  Placing 
our  instruments  on  the  soil,  we  proceeded  to  examine 
the  bodies. 

''  It  is  an  extraordinary  aspect,  by  lamp-light,  of- 
fered by  this  circular  space,  the  walls  of  which  are 
tapistried  by  dead  bodies  all  standing  erect ;  the 
eye  wanders  from  one  to  the  other  involuntarily,  and 
we  view  the  whole  before  confining  ourselves  to  de- 
tails. Although  the  most  of  them  are  in  the  atti- 
tude of  the  buried  dead,  some  differences  in  size,  in 
the  position  and  expression  of  the  physiognomy, 
produce  a  strange  and  confused  impression.  There 
is  one  point,  however,  where  our  regards  were  par- 
ticularly attracted,  where  the  heart  is  chilled  and 


NATURAL    MUMMIES.  39 

troubled  with  deep  emotion — here  is  beheld  a  mi- 
serable creature  in  a  position  violently  contracted — 
the  mouth  open  and  horribly  contracted,  the  infe- 
rior members  strongly  drawn  to  the  body — the  arms, 
one  twisted  by  convulsions  is  thrown  over  the  head, 
the  other  folded  beneath  the  trunk,  and  fixed  to  the 
thigh  by  the  nails,  wdiich  are  deeply  implanted  in 
the  ilesh ;  the  forced  inflexion  of  the  whole  body, 
gives  the  expression  of  ineffable  pain,  all  announc- 
ing a  violent  death.  Unfortunate  wretch !  had  he 
died  in  this  state,  or  rather,  had  he  been  buried 
alive,  and  assumed  this  position  in  the  horrible  ago- 
nies of  awakening  ? 

"  The  skin  of  all  these  mummies,  of  a  more  or 
less  deep  gray  colour,  dried  and  rather  soft  to  the 
touch,  gives  the  sensation  of  parchment  slightly 
stretched  upon  the  organs,  dried,  and  of  the  consist- 
ence of  amadou*  or  spunk ;  the  articulations  are 
stiff  and  inflexible ;  the  chest,  the  abdomen,  and  the 
cranium,  examined  carefully,  did  not  show  any  in- 
cision, any  regular  opening  indicative  of  any  trace 
of  embalming,  even  the  most  imperfect.  The  dif- 
ferent features  of  the  face,  still  distinct  among  some 
of  them,  displayed  a  variety  of  physiognomy;  two 
or  three  of  them  displayed  the  hair  of  the  beard  very 
well  preserved,  the  teeth  were  healthy  and  covered 
with,  brilliant  enamel.  The  upper  and  lower  ex- 
tremities entirely  dried,  and  whole  in  many  of  the 
subjects,  are  provided  with  all  the  phalanges ;  the 
last,  however,  divested  of  its  nail.  On  the  body  of 
the  tallest  figure  is  perceived  enormous  purses,  with 

*  A  sort  of  tinder  made  of  afjaric. — 7V. 


40  NATURAL    MUMMIES. 

evident  traces  of  a  double  scrotal  hernia.  The  skin 
raised  and  viewed  on  its  interior  surface,  is  tanned 
like  the  exterior;  all  traces  of  cellular  tissue  has 
disappeared  ;  the  muscles,  separated  from  the  skin, 
have  the  colour  and  consistence,  and  almost  the  in- 
ternal structure  of  amadou.  On  introducing  the 
hand  into  the  chest,  some  rudiment  of  lung  was 
found,  a  net  work  very  similar  to  that  of  leaves  de- 
prived of  their  fleshy  part ;  they  might  be  taken  for 
a  mass  of  leaves  dissected  by  the  caterpillars,  and 
rendered  adherent  by  the  threads  and  viscous  fluid 
that  these  insects  deposit.  The  intestines,  also  dried, 
are  nearly  in  the  same  state. 

"  Such  are  the  principal  details  which  presented 
themselves  in  the  course  of  our  examination  :  at  first 
sight,  it  appeared  astonishing  that  these  bodies,  re- 
moved for  more  than  forty  years  from  the  medium 
in  which  they  were  desiccated,  should  have  expe- 
rienced no  sensible  alteration  in  a  cavern  situated 
deeply  under  the  earth,  and  surmounted  by  a  struc- 
ture like  that  of  the  tower  of  St.  Michel.  Let  us 
return  to  our  instruments,  perhaps  they  will  aid  us 
in  the  explanation  of  the  fact.  After  remaining  an 
hour  in  this  atmosphere,  the  thermometer  passed 
from  24°  to  18°,  and  the  hygrometer,  from  34°  to  32°, 
which  gives  a  diiference  for  the  first,  of  6°,  for  the 
second  of  8°,  a  very  trifling  diflerence,  when  com- 
pared to  that  of  caves  and  other  places  in  the  same 
apparent  position.  This  thermometrical  and  hy- 
grometrical  state  of  the  air,  always  invariable,  is, 
without  doubt,  one  of  the  principal  circumstances 
in  maintaining  the  integrity  of  these  mummies.  To 
what  cause,  further,  can  be  attributed  this  double 


NATURAL    MUMMIES.  41 

state  of  the  air  in  the  cavern  .'  A  slow  fermentation, 
movements  of  latent  decomposition  in  the  enormous 
mass  of  animal  remains  which  form  the  bottom  of 
this  recepticle,  are  they  not  the  probable  cause  ? 
We  think  so,  and  we  leave  with  confidence  this  idea, 
to  the  meditation  of  philosophers.  Our  end  w^as  at- 
tained, we  had  proved  facts,  and  collected  some  par- 
cels of  the  remains  to  subject  them  to  analysis;  after 
different  trials  without  result,  some  portions  of  skin 
and  muscular  tissue,  placed  in  weakened  hydro- 
chloric acid,  and  treated  by  ebullition,  were  totally 
dissolved  in  this  liquid,  to  which  they  communi- 
cated a  deep  brown  colour.  This  liquor  filtered  and 
treated  by  the  yellow  cyanate  of  potash,  yielded  a 
very  abundant  blue  precipitate;  and  the  presence  of 
iron  was  thus  indicated,  from  whence  w^e  thought 
that  the  preservation  of  these  bodies  was  owing  to 
the  presence  of  a  compound  of  iron  in  the  earth, 
where  they  had  been  deposited.  But  the  human 
blood  yields  iron  also ;  was  it  a  portion  of  this  ele- 
ment of  our  tissues  that  our  experiments  brought 
into  play  ?  A  suit  of  comparative  experiments  upon 
the  tissues  of  mammies,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
the  same  tissues  dried  in  the  sun  of  subjects  recently 
dead,  on  the  other  hand,  have  evidently  proved  the 
excess  of  iron  in  the  first.  Analogous  circumstances 
doubtless,  have  determined  the  preservation  of  the 
bodies  found  at  Toulouse,  at  Palermo,  &c.  We  re- 
gret not  to  be  able  to  transmit  the  suit  of  experi- 
ments made  by  our  learned  friend,  Dr.  Bucherie; 
these  will  form  the  subject  of  ulterior  researches." 

The  same  phenomenon  still  occurs  in  different 
parts  of  our  country,  under  a  moderate  temperature : 

G 


42  NATURAL    MUMMIES. 

thus,  about  1660,  M.  de  La  Visee  and  his  domestic, 
having  been  assassinated  at  Paris,  and  interred  on 
the  place  where  the  crime  was  committed,  their  bo- 
dies were  discovered  after  the  lapse  of  a  year,  whole 
and  readily  recognisable ;  a  cloak  even,  lined  with 
plush,  had  not  suffered  the  least  alteration. 

The  mummy  of  the  avalanches,  and  all  those, 
the  preservation  of  which  is  due  to  a  constant  low 
temperature,  retain  the  freshness  and  plumpness  of 
the  tissues  for  years  and  for  centuries,  if  the  condi- 
tions of  the  medium  remain  the  same  ;  but,  under 
these  circumstances,  the  action  of  cold  exerts  no 
other  influence  than  the  suspension  of  decomposi- 
tion ;  for  the  moment  it  ceases,  the  tissues  are  ra- 
pidly exposed  to  the  laws  of  inorganic  chemistry. 

In  those  cases,  however,  where  the  bodies  ex- 
posed to  cold  are  subjected  to  a  dry  and  lively  wind, 
a  real  mummification  may  occur,  as  in  the  follow- 
ing example : 

There  is  upon  the  summit  of  the  Great  Saint  Ber- 
nard, a  sort  of  morgue  {dead  house)  in  which  have 
been  deposited,  from  time  immemorial,  the  bodies  of 
those  unfortunate  persons  who  have  perished  upon 
this  mountain  by  cold,  or  the  fall  of  avalanches. 

The  study  of  the  circumstances  of  locality,  and 
of  temperature,  in  which  this  establishment  is 
placed,  may,  to  a  certain  degree,  indicate  the  most 
favourable  conditions  for  the  long  preservation  of 
bodies.  Here  they  show  to  travellers,  bodies,  which 
they  assert  have  been  sufficiently  well  preserved  to 
be  recognisable  after  the  lapse  of  two  or  three  years. 
A  physician,  whose  quality  as  ancient  prosector  of 
the  faculty  of  Medicine  of  Paris,  rendered  him  curi- 


NATURAL    MUM-MIES.  43 

ous  to  visit  this  part  of  the  hospital  in  all  its  details, 
has  verified  with  his  own  eyes  all  that  travellers 
have  written,  and  has  transmitted  to  us  the  follow- 
ing observation : 

The  hospital  of  Saint  Bernard,  is,  as  is  well  known, 
the  most  elevated  habitation  in  Europe,  being 
7,200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  tempera- 
ture of  this  part  of  the  globe  is  always  very  low, 
rarely  above  zero,  even  during  summer.  This  ex- 
tensive establishment  is  built  upon  the  borders  of 
a  little  lake,  at  the  bottom  of  a  little  gorge ;  the 
principal  mass  of  the  building  represents  a  long  pa- 
rallelogram placed  in  the  direction  of  the  gorge, 
so  that  its  tw^o  principal  faces,  pierced  with  numer- 
ous windows,  are  sheltered  from  the  wind  by  the 
rocks ;  whilst  the  two  extremities,  on  the  contrary, 
are  exposed  to  all  the  violence  of  those  which  blow 
from  one  side  of  the  gorge  to  the  other.  About 
fifty  steps  beyond  this  principal  building,  and  a 
little  out  of  a  right  line  with  it,  is  situated  the 
morgue,  a  sort  of  square  chamber,  the  walls  of 
which,  three  or  four  feet  thick,  are  constructed  of 
good  stone,  and  the  arched  roof  of  w^hich  is  very  solid. 
Two  windows  of  about  four  feet  square,  are  pierced 
in  the  direction  of  the  breadth  of  the  valley,  directly 
facing  each  other,  so  that  a  perpetual  current  of 
cool  air  traverses  the  interior  of  the  chamber. 
There  is,  further,  but  a  single  table  in  this  morgue, 
upon  which  they  place  the  bodies  w^hen  first  intro- 
duced ;  after  a  while  they  are  arranged  around  the 
walls  in  an  upright  attitude.  At  the  time  of  my 
passage  of  the  Great  Saint  Bernard,  (3l5^  August, 
1837,)  there  were  several  of  these  mummified  bo- 


44  NATURAL    MUMMIES. 

dies  along  the  walls  of  the  chamber,  but  a  greater 
number  were  entirely  divested  of  flesh,  and  lie  scat- 
tered about  the  earthy  floor  of  the  room.  They  in- 
formed me,  that  decomposition  only  took  place  when 
the  bodies  fell  by  accident  to  the  ground ;  which 
was  owing  to  the  humidity  occasioned  by  the  snow, 
which  occasionally  entered  with  the  currents  of  air 
through  the  windows  of  the  morgue.*  (Note  com- 
municated by  Dr.  Lenoir.) 

The  existence  of  the  mummies  of  the  sands,  is  at- 
tested by  numerous  travellers,  and  all  the  authors 
who  have  written  on  embalming  mention  them. 
They  are  every  where  found,  where  an  arid  and 
burning  atmosphere  deeply  penetrates  the  masses 
of  fine  sand,  easily  agitated  by  the  winds.  In 
Egypt,  for  example,  Herodotus  frequently  speaks 
of  these  bodies  dried  by  the  sun.  Cambyses,  on  the 
authority  of  this  author,  sufi'ered  horrible  eff'ects 
from  these  sands,  driven  before  the  wind  ;  he  lost 
almost  his  whole  army  during  his  expedition  to  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon. 

Pere  Kircher  gives  us  an  interesting  description 
of  these  sand  storm.s :  ''In  the  countries  of  Africa 
situated  beyond  the  Nile,  is  a  vast  desert  of  sand, 

*  Early  in  September,  1833,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  inspecting  the 
contents  of  the  morgue  of  Saint  Bernard.  Among  the  group  of  bodies 
of  every  age  and  sex,  we  were  particularly  struck  with  two  figures, 
one,  that  of  a  man,  whose  countenance  was  horridly  contorted  by  the 
act  of  desiccation ;  each  limb,  and  every  muscle  of  the  body,  had  as- 
sumed the  expression  of  a  wretch  in  purgatory.  The  other  was  that  of 
a  mother  holding  her  infant  to  her  bosom,  the  latter,  Avith  an  imploring 
expression,  looking  up  to  the  face  of  the  mother,  whom  it  appeared  to 
have  survived  some  time,  as  is  generally  the  case  when  mother  and 
child  are  frozen  together — a  greater  power  of  forming  animal  heat  exist- 
ing in  children. — TV. 


NATURAL    MUMMIES.  45 

the  immense  waves  of  which  appear  in  the  bound- 
less horizon  Uke  those  of  the  sea.  Agitated  by  the 
winds,  these  sands  produce  such  frightful  tempests, 
that  they  sw^allow  up  under  their  enormous  masses, 
travellers,  beasts  of  burden,  and  merchandise.  Bo- 
dies thus  engulfed,  become  desiccated  after  a  series 
of  years,  both  by  the  ardour  of  the  sun's  rays,  and 
by  virtue  of  the  burning  sand  :  this  is  the  reason 
that  some  have  asserted  that  mummies  might  be 
formed  by  natural  causes  only,  &c.'  Penicher, 
Clauderus,  De  Maillet,  Rouelle  Le  Comte  de  Cay- 
lus,  cite  examples  of  the  same  nature.     A  whole 

1  The  following  is  the  passage  of  P.  Kircher,  of  which  we  gave  only 
a  few  passages  in  our  citation. 

"  Est  in  Transpilaiia  African  regoine,  desertum  iiigens  sabuli,  arena- 
rumque  curaulis  in  immensum  exporrectum,  unde  et  sabulosi  maris  non 
immerito  nomen  obtinuit;  ha;  siquidein  arenae  ventis  concitata;  tarn 
saevas  subinde  tempestales  movent,  ut  arenis  in  cUvos  aggesiis,  turbinnni 
violentia,  et  jumenta  et  viatores  una  cum  mercibus  suis,  nulla  evadendi 
spe  relicta,  vivos  sepiliant.  Refert  Pomponius  Mela  de  rupe  qua  dam 
in  hoc  deserto  existente,  austro  consecrata,  quae  simul  atque  vel  manu 
tacta  fuerit,  austro  mox  provocate,  Saivissimas  procellas  moveat,  sabulo 
in  tantum  ir.tumescente,  ut  pelagus  undarum  vorticibus,  fluctuumque 
jEStibus  concitatura  videraqueat.  Hanc  rupem  dum  olira  sylli  incon- 
sultius  adeunt  sive  occultiori  nature  impetu,  sive  magicis  incantationum 
praestigiis,  vento  mox  exoriente,  et  sabulosos  cogente  montes,  ad  unum 
omnes  extincti  ferunter.  Est  et  in  hoc  deserto,  ammonium  oraculum  et 
serapium,  sphyngesque  ingentes  quaram  aleas  usque  ad  caput,  aleae  ex 
dimidio  arena  obrutae,  strabone  teste,  spectantur.  Hoc  itaque  celeberri- 
mum  oraculum  consulturus  olim  Alexander  Magnus,  dum  pleno  aleaj 
itineri  se  accingit,  ad  illud  quidem  incolumis  pervenit,  sed  quos  milites 
ex  suo  excrcita  non  sabulosi  pelagi  turbines,  hos  aestus,  silisque  con- 
fecisse  traditur.  Sed  ut  undedigressus  revertar,  in  hoc  sabuloso  deserto 
dicunt  non  nuUi  mumias  solius  naturae  induslria  confici ;  dum  aiunt, 
viatorum  deserti  tempestatibus  extinctorum  corpora  turn  solis  tunc  fer- 
venlissimae  hugus  arenae  pinguioris  virtute,  longo  tempore  siccata,  tos- 
taque,  in  hunc  statum  degcnerare.  Sed  tametsi  subinde,  in  hoc  Lybiw 
deserto  hugusmodi  a  sole  exsiccata  corpora  reperianlur,  ilia  tamen  mi- 
nime  mumia;  discenda;  sunt." 


46  NATURAL    MUMMIES. 

caravan,  or  some  travellers,  disappear  under  a  mass 
of  sand ;  years,  centuries,  pass  by,  then  a  new  revo- 
lution in  the  disposition  of  these  masses  restores  to 
the  light  of  day,  those  bodies  which  a  previous  re- 
volution had  engulfed ;  blackened,  dried,  and  light- 
ened by  the  loss  of  all  their  fluids.  In  Mexico,  Mr. 
Humboldt  met  with  true  mummies.  Travellers 
have  visited  battlefields,  situated  on  a  soil  deprived 
of  rain,  and  in  a  burning  atmosphere.  They  saw 
with  astonishment,  that  these  fields  were  covered 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  Spaniards  and  Peruvians, 
dried  and  preserved  for  a  long  time.  At  the  side  of 
these  phenomena  which  nature  ofifers  us,  come  the 
mummies  of  which  Maillet  speaks  in  his  letters  on 
Egypt. 

"  There  has  been  discovered,"  says  he,  "  recently, 
in  this  plain  of  mummies,  a  mode  of  burying  hither- 
to unknown.  At  the  extremity  of  this  vast  open 
country,  and  towards  the  mountains,  which  bound 
it  on  the  west,  have  been  discovered  beds  of  carbon, 
on  which  are  laid  bodies  clothed  only  with  some 
linen,  and  covered  with  a  mat,  upon  which  rests 
the  sands  seven  or  eight  feet  in  thickness.  Never- 
theless, it  is  to  be  observed,  that  these  bodies,  al- 
though they  were  not  embalmed,  or  at  least  but 
slightly  so,  the  same  as  those  that  they  have  neg- 
lected to  enclose  in  cases,  were  none  the  less  beyond 
the  reach  of  corruption." 

I  promised  to  demonstrate  the  simple  connection 
which  exists  between  the  products  of  nature,  and 
those  of  human  industry,  to  show  that  the  first  were 
the  origin  of  the  second.     The  facts  which  I  have 


NATURAL    MUMMIES.  47 

just  exposed,  I  think,  place  this  proposition  beyond 
a  doubt. 

The  preservation  of  bodies  among  the  Guanches, 
which  is  already  a  step  advanced  in  the  art,  will 
form  the  subject  of  the  following  chapter. 


48  EMBALMING    OF    THE    GUANCHES. 


CHAPTER  III. 

EMBALMING    OF    THE    GUANCHES. 

The  Guanches,  with  the  Egyptians,  are  the  only 
nation  among  whom  embalming  had  become  na- 
tional, and  there  exists  in  the  process  and  mode  of 
preservation  of  both  such  striking  analogy,  that  the 
study  of  the  Guanch  mummies  is,  probably,  the 
surest  means  of  arriving  at  some  positive  notions  of 
their  origin  and  relationship.  To  make  ourselves  un- 
derstood in  the  subject  which  now  occupies  us,  we 
ought  to  remark,  that  the  details  known  of  the  mode 
of  embalming  among  the  Guanches,  will  enlighten 
and  complete  the  descriptions  that  ancient  authors 
have  transmitted  to  us  of  the  Egyptian  processes : 
it  is  thus  that  it  appears  to  us  without  a  doubt,  that 
their  silence  on  desiccation  in  the  act  of  mummifi- 
cation, is  a  simple  omission  on  their  part :  that  this 
desiccation  was  continued  during  the  seventy  days 
of  preparation ;  that  it  constituted  the  principal  part 
of  the  processes  adopted;  and  that,  because  among 
the  Guanches  desiccation  was  placed  in  the  first 
rank,  if  we  are  to  credit  the  relations  of  authors. 
We  see  in  this,  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  the 
utility  of  the  comparative  study  of  the  manners  and 
usages  of  different  nations  :  light  is  thrown  on  both 
by  the  comparison  of  facts. 

The  pains  taken  by  the  Guanches  to  evaporate 
the  fluid  parts  of  their  dead  bodies,  is  the  cause 


EMBALMING    OF    THE    GUANCHES.  49 

which  determines  us  to  place  their  mummies  imme- 
diately after  those  of  the  deserts  of  Lybia;  because 
their  processes  approach  nearest  to  that  of  nature. 
The  details  which  we  are  about  to  give,  are  ex- 
tracted from  the  excellent  work  of  M.  Bory  de  Saint 
Vincent  on  the  Fortunate  Isles. 

"  The  arts  of  the  Guanches  were  not  numerous, 
the  most  singular  without  doubt  is  that  of  embalm- 
ing. 

The  Guanches  preserved  the  remains  of  their  re- 
lations in  a  scrupulous  manner,  and  spared  no  pains 
to  guarantee  them  from  corruption.  As  a  moral 
duty,  each  individual  prepared  for  himself  the  skins 
of  goats,  in  which  his  remains  could  be  enveloped, 
and  which  might  serve  him  for  sepulture.  These 
skins  M^ere  often  divested  of  their  hair,  at  other 
times  they  permitted  it  to  remain,  when  they  placed 
indifferently  the  hairy  side  wdthin  or  without.  The 
processes  to  which  they  resorted  to  make  perfect 
mummies,  which  they  named  xaxos,  are  nearly  lost. 
Some  vrriters  have,  nevertheless,  left  details  on  this 
subject,  but  perhaps  they  are  not  more  exact  than 
those  which  Herodotus  has  transmitted  to  us  upon 
the  embalming  of  the  Egyptians. 

With  the  Guanches,  the  embalmers  were  abject 
beings ;  men  and  women  filled  this  employment  re- 
spectively, for  their  sexes ;  they  were  well  paid,  but 
their  touch  was  considered  contamination ;  and  all 
who  were  occupied  in  preparing  the  xaxos  lived  re- 
tired, solitary,  and  out  of  sight.  It  is,  then,  out  of 
place,  that  Sprats  has  advanced  the  idea,  that  em- 
balming was  confined  to  a  tribe  of  priests,  who  made 
a  sacred  mystery  of  it,  and  that  the  secret  died  with 

7 


50  EMBALMING    or    THE    GUANCHES. 

the  priests.  There  were  several  kinds  of  embalm- 
ing, and  several  different  employments  for  those 
who  had  charge  of  it.  When  they  had  need  of  the 
services  of  the  embalmers,  they  carried  the  body  to 
them  to  be  preserved,  and  immediately  retired.  If 
the  body  belonged  to  persons  capable  of  bearing  the 
expenses,  they  extended  it  at  first  on  a  stone  table ; 
an  operator  then  made  an  opening  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  belly  with  a  sharpened  flint,  wrought  into  the 
form  of  a  knife  and  called  tahona ;  the  intestines 
were  withdrawn,  which  other  operators  afterwards 
washed  and  cleaned ;  they  also  washed  the  rest  of 
the  body,  and  particularly  the  delicate  parts,  as  the 
eyes,  interior  of  the  mouth,  the  ears,  and  the  nails, 
with  fresh  water  saturated  with  salt.  They  filled 
the  large  cavities  with  aromatic  plants ;  they  then 
exposed  the  body  to  the  hottest  sun,  or  placed  it  in 
stoves,  if  the  sun  was  not  hot  enough.  During  the 
exposition,  they  frequently  endued  the  body  with 
an  ointment,  composed  of  goats'  grease,  pow^der  of 
odoriferous  plants,  pine  bark,  resin,  tar,  ponce  stone, 
and  other  absorbing  materials.  Feuille  thinks  that 
these  unctions  were  also  made  with  a  composition 
of  butter,  and  desiccative  and  balsamic  substances, 
among  which  are  mentioned  the  resin  of  larch,  and 
the  leaves  of  pomegranate,  which  never  possessed 
the  property  of  preserving  bodies. 

On  the  fifteenth  day  the  embalming  should  be 
completely  terminated;  the  mummy  should  be  dry 
and  light ;  the  relatives  send  for  it  and  establish  the 
most  magnificent  obsequies  in  their  power.  They 
sew  up  the  body  in  several  folds  of  the  skin,  which 
they  had  prepared  Avhen  living,  and  they  bind  it 


EMBALMING    OF    THE    GUANCIIES.  51 


S 


with  straps,  retained  by  running  knots.  The  kingt^ 
and  the  grandees  were  besides,  placed  in  a  case  or 
coffin  of  a  single  piece,  and  hollowed  out  of  the 
trunk  of  the  juniper  tree,  the  wood  of  which  was 
held  as  incorruptible.  They  then  finally,  carried 
the  xaxos,  thus  sown  and  encased,  to  inaccessible 
grottoes  consecrated  to  this  purpose. 

Another  less  expensive  mode  of  preserving  the 
dead,  consisted  in  drying  them  in  the  sun,  after 
having  introduced  into  the  belly  a  corrosive  liquor  : 
this  liquor  eats  into  the  interior  parts,  where  the  sun 
does  not  act  sufficiently  to  prevent  their  corruption. 
Like  the  other  xaxos,  the  relatives  sowed  them  in 
skins  and  carried  them  to  the  grottoes 

These  mummies,  such  as  they  are  found  at  the 
present  day,  are  dry  and  light ;  many  have  perfectly 
preserved  their  hair  and  beard,  the  nails  are  often 
wantino- ;  the  features  of  the  face  are  distinct,  but 
shrunken ;  the  abdomen  is  contracted.  In  some, 
there  exists  no  mark  of  incision,  in  others  are  ob- 
served the  trace  of  a  rather  large  opening  on  the 
flank.  The  xaxos  are  of  a  tanned  colour,  with  ge- 
nerally an  agreeable  odour ;  exposed  to  the  air,  out 
of  the  sacks  of  goat  skin,  which  are  admirably  pre- 
served, they  fall  by  degrees  into  dust;  they  are 
punctured  in  many  places ;  surrounded  by  the 
chrysalides  of  flies,  proceeding  probably  from  mag- 
gots, deposited  upon  the  body  during  its  prepara- 
tion :  these  larvse  and  chrysalides,  which  could  not 
be  reproduced,  are  preserved  whole  and  healthy 
like  the  mummies. 

The  Chevalier  Scory  says,  that  these  mummies 
are  two  thousand  vears  old  :  it  is  difficult  to  deter- 


52        EMBALMING  OF  THE  GUANCHES. 

mine  how  long  they  have  been  preserved ;  but  we 
shall  see  in  the  sequel  that  it  has  been  certainly 
more  than  two  thousand  years  since  the  Guanches 
embalmed.  I  willingly  believe  that,  in  the  corro- 
sive composition  which  they  employed  in  the  second 
kind  of  embalming,  and  probably  in  all  cases,  the 
Guanches  made  use  of  the  juice  of  the  spurge ;  they 
doubtless  employed  the  species  proper  to  their  cli- 
mate, which  is  acrid  and  milky  ;  I  have  recognised 
whole  pieces  in  the  chest  of  a  mummy,  in  which, 
nevertheless,  there  existed  no  traces  of  an  incision. 
Leaves,  also,  it  is  said,  have  been  taken  from  the 
body  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  and  have  been 
recognised  as  those  of  the  laurel.  During  the  ex- 
posure of  the  body  to  the  sun,  they  extend  the  arms 
of  the  men  along  the  side  of  the  trunk,  and  for  the 
most  part  crossing  those  of  the  women  before  the 
lower  part  of  the  abdomen.  From  time  to  time  new 
catacombs  are  discovered  in  the  Canary  islands.  In 
1758,  they  found  one  at  Palma ;  but  the  mummies 
were  either  very  old,  or  badly  embalmed,  they  soon 
fell  into  powder.  At  Fer,  there  was  found  on  the 
tables  where  the  xaxos  had  laid,  the  furniture  which 
the  deceased  had  used  during  life.  In  this  island 
they  wall  up  these  caverns,  to  prevent  them  being 
used  as  retreats  for  birds  of  prey  and  for  crows. 

At  the  Canaries,  they  do  not  limit  themselves 
always  to  placing  the  mummies  in  grottoes ;  they 
elevated  special  tombs  to  certain  distinguished  dead. 
These  privileged  dead,  dressed  in  their  garment, 
called  tamareo,  were  placed  upon  elevated  planks 
of  pine  wood,  with  the  head  turned  towards  the 
north  ;  they  afterwards  constructed  above,  a  monu- 


EMBALMING    OF    THE    GUANCHES.  53 

ment  of  hard  stone,  pyramidal  in  form,  and  often 
very  high.  Many  catacombs  are  known  to  exist  in 
Teneriffe ;  the  most  celebrated  is  that  of  Baranco  de 
Herque,  between  Arico  and  Guimar,  in  the  Abona 
country :  it  was  discovered  during  the  time  that 
Clarijo  wrote  his  Noticias.  He  states  that  they  there 
met  with  more  than  a  thousand  mummies,  whilst 
in  other  cases  only  three  or  four  hundred  had  been 
found  at  a  time.  From  hence  they  brought  the 
xaxos,  which  are  in  the  cabinet  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
and  the  two  which  M.  de  Chastenet  Puysegur  sent 
in  1776,  to  the  Garden  of  Plants:  one  of  them  un- 
fortunately wants  the  feet. 

We  abstain  from  all  reflection  on  the  recital  which 
precedes.  Their  analogy  to  the  Egyptian  process 
will  occur  of  itself  to  the  mind  of  the  reader,  in  the 
description  which  follows.  Nevertheless,  we  ought 
to  indicate  a  fact  observed  of  two  Guanch  mum- 
mies ;  a  fact  omitted  in  the  preceding  description. 

M.  Jouannet,  a  modest  and  laborious  investigator, 
has  proved,  that  two  Guanch  mummies  that  were 
in  his  possession,  had  the  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth, 
filled  with  bitumen,  like  some  of  the  Egyptian  mum- 
mies. The  skins  which  enveloped  them  were  care- 
fully closed,  and  nothing  indicated  that  the  bitu- 
men was  an  addition  posterior  to  embalming. 


54       EMBALMING   AA'TONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EMBALMING    AMONG    THE    ANCIENT    EGYPTIANS. 

Since  the  ignorance  we  are  in,  relative  to  the 
language  of  this  great  nation,  places  it  out  of  our 
power  to  know,  of  ourselves,  the  causes  and  pro- 
cesses for  the  preservation  of  dead  bodies,  let  us  fol- 
low the  recital  of  ancient  authors,  let  us  endeavour 
to  detect,  not  by  the  imagination,  but  by  positive 
facts,  by  the  study  of  invariable  exterior  conditions, 
the  different  data  of  the  question  of  embalming 
among  the  Egyptians. 

In  the  first  place,  if  we  make  allowance  for  all 
that  the  successive  perfection  of  the  arts,  luxury,  or 
the  love  of  distinction  could  add  to  simple  preser- 
vation, we  shall  arrive,  with  Rouelle,  to  this  conclu- 
sion, that  the  work  of  embalming  is  reduced  to  two 
essential  parts  :  first,  the  drying  of  the  body,  that  is 
to  say,  removing  the  fluids  and  grease  which  they 
contain;  secondly,  to  protect  the  body  thus  pre- 
pared, from  external  humidity  and  contact  of  the 
air.  We  have  already  seen  all  the  aid  which  they 
derived  from  their  climate  to  fulfil  the  first  condi- 
tion :  a  detailed  description  will  teach  us  what  their 
industry  enabled  them  to  add  to  it.  As  to  the  se- 
cond, the  nature  of  their  caverns  powerfully  con- 
tributed . 

These  vast  cavities,  says  Pelletan,  sheltered  from 
the  inundations  of  the  Nile,  have,  without  doubt. 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       55 

originally  furnished  the  materials  for  the  monu- 
ments of  Thebes,  and  the  architects  of  the  day  thus 
hollowed  out  the  tombs  of  families  in  elevating  their 
palaces.  Their  whole  surface,  from  the  entrance, 
even  to  the  deepest  recesses  of  these  dark  excava- 
tions, are  covered  with  sepultures  and  fresco  paint- 
ings. Each  framed  subject  forms  so  many  little 
pictures  which  touch  each  other,  and  the  figures  of 
which  are  not  more  than  two  or  three  inches  in 
height,  so  that  the  whole  extent  of  these  double 
walls,  the  development  of  which  is  incalculable,  has 
been  the  object  of  minute  labour.  The  sculptures 
are  in  bas-relief,  and  covered  with  equable  tints,  but 
lively,  and  i?i  very  good  preservation.  The  points 
of  rock  unconnected  with  the  work,  have  been  co- 
vered with  a  composition  perfectly  solid,  and  so  du- 
rable, that,  as  yet,  no  other  degradation  is  observable, 
than  that  produced  by  the  efforts  of  some  travellers  to 
carry  off  fragments  of  it.  Perspective  is  always 
wanting  in  these  pictures  ;  the  bodies  are  viewed  in 
full,  the  faces  in  profile ;  but  the  design  is  pure  and 
the  proportions  just ;  we  find  nothing  to  indicate 
ignorance  in  the  artist;  which  presumes  for  the 
Egyptians,  if  not  great  perfection  in  the  arts,  at 
least  a  great  popularity  in  their  practice.  The  sub- 
ject of  these  paintings  are  domestic  scenes,  and  ge- 
nerally followed  by  a  funeral  procession ;  from 
whence  it  may  be  inferred,  that  they  refer  to  the 
life  of  the  man  enclosed  in  each  of  the  lateral  niches. 
The  temperature  of  the  caverns  is  20°  R. 

It  appeared  to  us  convenient  thus  to  give  a  sum- 
mary of  the  conditions  of  drjdng,  and  of  the  ulterior 
preservation,  before  presenting  descriptions  which 


56       EIMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

have  been  more  or  less  accurately  transmitted  to  us, 
of  the  part  that  man  has  had  in  this  operation. 

Herodotus,  Diodorus  Sicculus,  and  Porphyrus, 
who  have  written  with  the  greatest  detail  on  the 
funerals  of  the  Egyptians,  will  afford  us  the  first  in- 
structions. 

Herodotus.  Mourning  and  funerals  are  conducted 
after  this  manner  :  when  a  man  of  consideration 
dies,  all  the  women  of  his  house  [oiketes)  cover  the 
head  and  even  the  face  with  mud  ;  they  leave  the 
deceased  in  the  house,  girdle  the  middle  of  their  bo- 
dies, bare  the  bosom,  strike  the  breast,  and  overrun 
the  city,  accompanied  by  their  relations.  On  the 
other  side,  the  men  also  girdle  themselves  and  strike 
their  breasts;  after  this  ceremony,  they  carry  the 
body  to  the  place  where  it  is  to  be  embalmed. 

The  following,  after  Diodorus  Sicculus,  (book  1st, 
vol.  i.  p.  102,  §  xcii.)  is  the  ceremony  of  sepul- 
ture among  the  Egyptians  :  "  The  relatives  fix  the 
day  for  the  obsequies,  in  order  that  the  judges,  the 
relations,  and  friends  of  the  dead  may  be  present, 
and  they  characterize  it  by  saying,  he  is  going  to 
pass  the  lake  ;  afterwards  the  judges,  to  the  number 
of  more  than  forty  arriving,  they  place  themselves 
in  the  form  of  a  semi-circle  beyond  the  lake.  A  bat- 
teau  approaches  the  shore,  carrying  those  who  have 
charge  of  this  ceremony,  and  in  which  is  a  sailor, 
whom  the  Egyptians  name  in  their  language  Cha- 
ron. They  say,  further,  that  Orpheus  having  re- 
marked this  custom  in  his  voyage  in  Egypt,  took 
occasion  from  it  to  imagine  the  fable  of  hell,  imitat- 
ing a  portion  of  these  ceremonies,  and  adding  to 
them  others  of  his  own  invention.     Before  placing 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       57 

in  the  batteau  the  coffin  containing  the  body  of  the 
deceased,  it  is  lawful  for  each  one  present  to  accuse 
him.     If  they  prove  that  he  has  led  a  sinful  life,  the 
judges  condemn  him,  and  he  is  excluded  from  the 
place  of  his  sepulture.     If  it  appear  that  he  has 
been  unjustly  accused,  they  punish  the  accuser  with 
severity.     If  no  accuser  presents  himself,  or  if  the 
one  who  does  so  is  known  as  a  calumniator,  the  re- 
latives, putting  aside  the  signs  of  their  grief,  deliver 
an  eulogium  on  the  deceased  without  mentioningc 
his  birth,  as  is  practised  among  the  Grecians,  be- 
cause they  considered  all  Egyptians  equally  noble. 
They  enlarge  on  the  manner  in  which  he  has  been 
schooled  and  instructed  from  his  childhood ;  upon 
his  piety,  justice,  temperance,  and  his  other  virtues 
since  he  attained  manhood,  and  they  pray  the  Gods 
of  hell  to  admit  him  into  the  dwelling  of  the  pious. 
The  people  applauded  and  glorified  the  dead  who 
were  to  pass  all  eternity  in  the  abodes  of  the  happy. 
If  any  one  has  a  monument  destined  for  his  sepul- 
ture, his  body  is  there  deposited ;  if  he  has  none, 
they  construct  a  room  in  his  house,  and  place  the 
bier  upright  against  the  most  solid  part  of  the  wall. 
They  place  in  their  houses  those  to  whom  sepulture 
has  not  been  awarded,  either  on  account  of  crimes, 
of  which  they  are  accused,  or  on  account  of  the 
debts  which  they  may  have  contracted ;  and  it  hap- 
pens sometimes  in  the  end  that  they  obtain  honour- 
able sepulture,  their  children  or  descendants  becom- 
ing rich,  pay  their  debts  or  absolve  them.   Orpheus 
communicated  to  the   Greeks  these  usages  of  the 
Egyptians,  applied  to  hell.  Homer,  following  in  his 
steps,  adorned  his  poetry  with  them:  "Mercury," 

"8 


58      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

says  he,  "  his  wand  in  his  hand,  convoked  the  souls 
of  the  candidates."  And  farther  on :  "  They  tra- 
versed the  ocean,  passed  near  Leucadia,  entered  by 
the  gate  of  the  sun,  {Heliopolis,)  the  country  of 
dreams,  and  soon  attained  the  fields  of  Asphodelia, 
vv^here  inhabit  the  souls  w\\o  are  the  images  of 
death." 

But  to  return  to  the  recital  of  Herodotus.  There 
are  in  Egypt,  certain  persons  w^hom  the  law  charges 
with  embalming,  and  who  make  a  profession  of  it. 
When  a  body  is  brought  to  them,  they  show  the 
bearers  models  of  the  dead  in  wood.  The  most  re- 
nowned represents,  they  say,  him  whose  name  I  am 
scrupulous  to  mention  ;  they  show  a  second,  which 
is  inferior  to  the  first,  and  which  is  not  so  costly ; 
they  again  show  a  third  of  a  lower  price.  They 
afterwards  demand  after  which  of  the  three  models 
they  wish  the  deceased  to  be  embalmed.  After 
agreeing  about  the  price,  the  relatives  retire ;  the 
embalmers  work  alone,  and  proceed  as  follows,  in 
the  most  costly  embalming.  They  first  withdraw 
the  brain  through  the  nostrils,  in  part  with  a  curved 
iron  instrument,  and  in  part  .by  means  of  drugs, 
which  they  introduce  into  the  head;  they  after- 
wards make  an  incision  in  the  flank  with  a  sharp 
Ethiopian  stone. 

The  body  being  extended  upon  the  earth,  the 
scribe  traces  on  the  left  flank  the  portion  to  be  cut 
out.  He  who  is  charged  with  making  the  incision, 
cuts  with  an  Ethiopian  stone,  as  much  as  the  law 
allows ;  which  having  done,  he  runs  off  with  all  his 
might,  the  assistants  follow,  throwing  stones  after 
him,  loading   him  with   imprecations,  as  if  they 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       59 

wished  to  put  upon  him  this  crime.  They  regard, 
indeed,  with  horror,  whoever  does  Aiolence  to  a  body 
of  the  same  nature  as  their  own.  Whoever  wounds 
it,  or  in  one  word,  whoever  offers  it  any  harm.'' 
{Diodcrus,  book  1,  t.  i.  p.  102.) 

They  withdraw  the  intestines  through  this  open- 
ing, clean  them,  and  pass  them  through  palm  wine, 
place  them  in  a  trunk ;  and  among  other  things  they 
do  for  the  deceased,  they  take  this  trunk,  and  call- 
ing the  sun  to  witness,  one  of  the  embalmers  on  the 
part  of  the  dead,  addresses  that  luminary  in  the  fol- 
lowing words,  which  Euphantus  has  translated  from 
his  vernacular  tongue.  "  Sun,  and  ye  too,  Gods, 
who  have  given  life  to  men,  receive  me,  and  grant 
that  I  may  live  with  the  eternal  Gods ;  I  have  per- 
sisted all  my  life  in  the  worship  of  those  Gods, 
whom  I  hold  from  my  fathers,  I  have  ever  honoured 
the  Author  of  my  being,  I  have  killed  no  one,  I  have 
committed  no  breach  of  trust,  I  have  done  no  other 
evil :  if  I  have  been  guilty  of  any  other  fault  dur- 
ing life,  it  was  not  on  my  own  account,  but  for  these 
things."  The  embalmer,  in  finishing  these  words, 
shows  the  trunk  containing  the  intestines,  and  after- 
wards casts  it  into  the  river.  As  to  the  rest  of  the 
body,  when  it  was  pure,  they  embalmed  it."  {Por- 
phijr.,  De  abstinentia  ah  esu  animalium,  book  17, 
§  10,  p.  329.) 

Afterwards  they  fill  the  body  with  pure  bruised 
myrrh,  with  canella  and  other  perfumes,  excepting 
incense ;  it  is  then  sown  up.  When  that  is  done 
they  salt  the  body  in  covering  it  with  natrum  for 
seventy  days.  (Natrum,  with  the  intention  of  car- 
rying off,  and  drying  the  oily,  Ivmphatic.  and  greasy 


()0      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

parts  ;  but  this  ought  to  have  been  the  first  opera- 
tion, for  if  they  had  commenced  with  filUng  the 
body  with  myrrh  and  aromatics,  previous  to  salting 
it,  the  natrum,  acting  on  the  balsamic  matters,  and 
forming  with  their  oils  a  soapy  matter,  very  soluble 
and  readily  carried  off  by  the  lotions,  would  have 
destroyed  the  greater  part  of  the  aromatics.  Besides, 
Diodorus  does  not  mention  natrum.)  It  is  not  per- 
mitted to  let  them  remain  longer  in  the  salt.  The 
seventy  days  elapsed,  they  wash  the  body  and  en- 
tirely envelope  it  in  linen  and  cotton  bandages, 
soaked  with  gum  Arabic,  commi,  which  the  Egyp- 
tians used  generally  in  place  of  glue.*  The  rela- 
tives now  reclaim  the  body;  they  have  made  a 
wooden  case  of  the  human  form,  in  which  they  en- 
close the  corpse,  and  put  it  in  a  chamber  destined 
for  this  purpose,  standing  erect  against  the  wall. 
Such  is  the  most  magnificent  method  of  embalming 
the  dead.  Those  who  wish  to  avoid  the  expense 
choose  this  other  method  ;  they  fill  syringes  with  an 
unctuous  liquor  which  they  obtain  from  the  cedar ; 
with  this  they  inject  the  belly  of  the  corpse  without 
making  any  incision,  and  without  withdrawing  the 
intestines ;  when  this  liquor  has  been  introduced  into 
the  fundament  they  cork  it,  in  order  to  prevent  its 
ejectment ;  the  body  is  then  salted  for  the  prescribed 
time.  The  last  day,  they  draw  off  from  the  body 
the  injected  liquor ;  it  has  such  strength  that  it  dis- 
solves the  ventricles  and  intestines,   which  come 

♦  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  use  of  these  gummy  bandages  gave 
origin  to  the  new  and  improved  method  of  bandaging  fractured  limbs — 
the  bandages  being  first  soaked  in  a  solution  of  gum  Arabic,  or  in  a  pre- 
paration of  starch,  called  dextrine. — Tr. 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      61 

away  with  the  hquid.  The  natrum  destroys  the 
flesh,  and  there  remains  of  the  body,  only  the  skin 
and  bones.  This  operation  finished,  they  return  the 
body  without  doing  anything  further  to  it. 

The  third  kind  of  embalming  is  only  for  the 
poorer  classes  of  society.  They  inject  the  body  with 
a  fluid  named  surmata  ;  they  put  the  body  into  na- 
trum for  seventy  days,  and  they  afterwards  return 
it  to  tliose  who  brought  it. 

As  to  ladies  of  quality,  when  they  are  dead,  they 
are  not  immediately  sent  to  the  embalmers,  any 
more  than  such  as  are  beautiful  or  highly  distin- 
guished ;  these  are  reserved  for  three  or  four  days 
after  death.  They  take  this  precaution  lest  the  em- 
balmers might  pollute  the  bodies  confided  to  their 
care. 

It  is  reported  that  one  was  surprised  in  the  act, 
with  a  woman  recently  dead,  and  that  on  the  accu- 
sation of  one  of  his  comrades.  The  preceding  re- 
citals have  been  the  subject  of  numerous  commen- 
tations, discussions,  and  researches.  It  is  astonish- 
ing that  Herodotus  has  omitted  desiccation  ;  but  it 
naturally  took  place  during  the  time  consecrated  to 
preparation.  Some  assert  that  the  body  was  in  the 
first  place  salted,  and  subsequently  penetrated  with 
resinous  and  balsamic  substances,  which,  incorpo- 
rating with  the  flesh,  prevented  putrefaction  :  others 
pretend  that  the  body,  after  having  been  salted,  was 
dried,  and  that  it  was  not  until  after  this  desicca- 
tion that  the  resinous  and  balsamic  substances  were 
applied.  A  simple  inspection  of  the  mummies  is 
sufficient  to  reject  the  first  opinion.  What  union, 
indeed,  could  these  last  named  matters  have  con- 


62      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

tracted  with  the  fluids  of  the  tissues  ?  and  how  can 
we  conceive  from  thence,  that  bodies  often  filled 
with  corrupted  serosity,  could  have  resisted  the  in- 
testine effects  of  such  active  causes  in  producing 
decomposition  ? 

M.  Rouelle  thought  that  the  natrum  was  a  fixed 
alkali,  which  acted  after  the  manner  of  quick-lime, 
despoiling  the  bodies  of  their  lymphatic  and  greasy 
fluids,  leaving  only  the  fibrous  and  solid  parts.  Thus 
viewing  in  this  manner  the  Egyptian  process,  it  re- 
moves an  error  into  which  Herodotus  has  fallen  on 
the  subject  of  the  first  class  of  embalming.  It  is 
there  stated,  that  they  filled  the  belly  of  the  corpse 
with  myrrh,  canella,  and  other  perfumes,  except  in- 
cense, and  that  afterwards  they  put  it  into  the  na- 
trwn  and  then  washed  it.  But  of  what  use  would 
have  been  these  resinous  matters,  with  which  the 
alkali  of  the  natrum  would  soon  form  a  soapy  mass, 
which  the  lotions  would  have  carried  off,  at  least, 
in  great  part  ?  It  is  much  more  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  these  balsamic  and  resinous  substances 
were  not  applied  to  the  bodies  until  after  they  were 
withdrawn  from  the  natrum. 

The  same  author  points  out  another  inaccuracy, 
in  what  Herodotus  has  taught  us  on  the  bandages 
of  the  mummies.  Very  few  mummies,  says  he,  are 
enveloped  agreeably  to  the  description  of  Herodotus, 
that  is  to  say,  the  linen  bandages  are  not  glued  to- 
gether with  gum  alone,  applied  directly  to  the  body 
when  simply  dried  without  any  resinous  substances. 
Such  kind  of  embalming  is  the  least  costly,  although 
Herodotus  describes  it  as  the  richest  and  dearest. 
The  mummy  preserved  in  the  cabinet  of  St.  Gene- 


EMBALMING  A^IONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      63 

vieve,  and  the  two  which  are  in  that  of  the  Celes- 
tins,  may  throw  some  new  light  on  this  passage  of 
Herodotus,  and  confirm  my  conjectures.  These 
mummies  have  two  kinds  of  bandages ;  the  body 
and  the  limbs  are  each  separately  invested  with 
linen  bandages,  endued  with  resin  or  bitumen,  and 
they  are  so  intimately  united  together  that  they  form 
but  one  mass.  This  is  doubtless  the  reason  that 
some  authors  have  believed  that  this  thickness  was 
only  embalmed  flesh.  There  are  other  linen  band- 
ages without  any  bituminous  substance,  which  en- 
velope the  whole  body;  both  the  arms  are  crossed 
upon  the  stomach,  and  the  legs  are  glued  together ; 
these  mummies  are  swaddled  in  new  bandages,  or, 
if  you  please,  by  this  last  bandage,  just  as  infants 
are  swaddled ;  these  bandages  are  yellow,  particu- 
larly those  of  the  mummy  of  the  cabinet  of  Saint 
Gene\aeve,  and  are  absolutely  destitute  of  resinous 
substance.  We  may,  then,  readily  conclude,  that 
these  bandages  have  been  only  simply  invested  with 
gum.  It  appears  that  Herodotus  had  forgotton  to 
describe  the  use  of  the  first  bandage,  employed  to 
retain  the  resinous  matter  on  the  surface  of  the  body, 
and  having  probably  seen  among  the  embalmers,  or 
elsewhere,  some  bodies  swaddled  like  infants,  he 
onlv  described  the  second  bandage. 

If  we  examine  with  attention,  the  mummy  of 
Saint  Genevieve,  and  those  of  the  cabinet  of  the  Ce- 
lestins,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  second  bandage 
is  equally  a  suit  of  ordinary  embalming ;  for  the 
mummy  of  the  Celestins,  of  which  the  first  bandage 
has  been  removed,  no  doubt  in  order  to  see  the  pro- 
cess of  embalming,  has  the  bands  of  the  first  band- 


64      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

age  of  a  very  clear  and  coarse  linen  :  the  bands  of 
that  of  Saint  Genevieve,  on  the  contrary,  are  much 
finer,  whilst  the  substances  of  the  embalming  of  the 
two  mummies  are  the  same. 

I  am  persuaded  that  mummies  seldom  come  to  us 
with  the  second  bandage,  and  that  the  preservation 
of  those  of  the  mummies  of  the  cabinet  of  Saint  Ge- 
nevieve, and  of  the  Celestins,  is  only  due  to  the  state 
of  the  cases  which  hold  them,  or  to  the  peculiar  care 
of  those  who  sent  them. 

In  fine,  E.oaelle  has  analysed  the  substance  of 
embalmings,  and  the  result  of  the  analysis  made  on 
six  mummies  gave  him  for  two,  amber,  for  the  four 
others,  Jew's  pitch  or  pisasphaltum,  a  mixture,  into 
the  composition  of  which,  Jew's  pitch  enters. 
Rouelle  met  with  no  traces  of  myrrh  in  any  mummy. 
From  these  facts  he  arrives  at  the  following  conclu- 
sion :  "  Our  experiments,  then,  furnish  us  with 
three  materially  different  embalmings.  The  first, 
with  Jew's  pitch ;  the  second,  with  a  mixture  of  bi- 
tumen, and  the  liquor  of  cedar,  or  cedria  ;  and  the 
third,  with  that  mixture,  to  which  they  have  added 
resinous  and  very  aromatic  matters." 

We  confine  ourselves  to  these  reflections  upon 
the  processes  described  by  the  ancients,  and  given 
by  them  as  those  alone  practised  in  Egypt. 

We  are  going  to  cite  some  passages  from  the  very 
remarkable  memoir  of  M.  Rouyer,  from  which  it 
will  be  readily  perceived  that  they  were  ignorant  of 
several  methods  in  use  among  these  people.  Never- 
theless, it  is  just  to  give  here  some  explanations 
which  throw  new  light  upon  the  sources  which  we 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       65 

have   reproduced;    they   are   principally  extracted 
from  the  memoir  of  the  Count  de  Caylus. 

The  exhibition  of  models  on  the  part  of  the  em- 
balmers,  had  reference  to  the  richness  of  the  work 
demanded,  and  to  the  expense  of  the  chosen  form. 
The  first  model,  which  Herodotus  had  scruples  in 
naming,  was  probably  the  figure  of  some  divinity, 
{Isis.)  Herodotus  does  not  mention  the  price,  audit 
is  probable,  that  Diodorus  has  made  his  valuations 
without  being  any  too  well  acquainted  with  them. 
According  to  his  estimation,  the  first  cost  one  talent, 
(about  nine  hundred  dollars  of  our  money;)  the  se- 
cond, twenty  mina,   (three   hundred  dollars ;)   the 
third,  a  trifle,  (vague.)     Diodorus  continues  in  these 
terms  :  "■  The  office  of  burying  is  a  particular  profes- 
sion, which,  like  all  others,  has  been  learned  from 
infancy.     Those  who  exercise  it,  go  to  the  relatives 
of  the  deceased  with  a  scale  or  rate  of  charges,  and 
request  them  to  make  a  selection.     Having  agreed, 
they  take  the  body  and  give  it  to  the  officers  whose 
duty  it  is  to  prepare  it." 

In  the  head,  which  was  sent  by  M.  de  Caylus, 
the  skull  had  been  actually  pierced  through  the  nos- 
trils, and  the  bottom  of  the  right  orbit  opened.  As 
to  perfume,  the  exception  in  favour  of  the  incense 
is  probably  made  out  of  respect  to  the  divinity.  He 
observed  no  trace  of  incision,  nor  were  they  at  all 
necessary.  The  extreme  dryness  of  the  skin,  and 
the  solidity  it  acquires  by  the  bitumen,  renders  such 
operation  useless. 

The  Egyptians  employed  their  natrum  as  we  em- 
ploy lime,  to  prepare  and  tan  leather.  Also  kommi,  or 
gum  Arabic  of  Senegal.  As  respects  bandages,  they 

9 


66       EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

had  many  kinds ;  whether  as  regards  the  qnahty  of 
the  Hnen,  or  the  manner  of  arranging  them,  more  sim- 
ple or  more  complex.  As  many  as  a  thousand  ells 
of  these  narrow  bands  have  been  found  on  a  single 
mummy. 

Diodorus,  after  speaking  of  those  who  make  the 
incision,  adds :  those  who  salt  come  afterwards : 
these  officers  are  highly  respected  in  Egypt ;  they 
hold  commerce  with  the  priests,  and  the  entrance 
to  sacred  places  is  open  to  them,  the  same  as  to  per- 
sons who  are  themselves  sacred.  They  assemble 
around  a  corpse  which  has  just  been  opened,  and 
one  of  them  introduces  his  hand  through  the  inci- 
sion into  the  body,  and  withdraws  all  the  viscera, 
excepting  the  heart  and  kidneys,  another,  continues 
he,  washes  them  in  palm  wine  and  odoriferous  li- 
quors; they  afterwards  anoint  the  body  for  thirty 
days  with  cedar,  gum,  myrrh,  cinnamon,  and  other 
perfumes,  which  not  only  contributes  to  preserve  the 
body  in  its  integrity  a  very  long  time,  but  which 
also  causes  it  to  shed  a  very  sweet  odour.  They 
then  return  to  the  relatives,  the  body  restored  to  its 
original  form,  in  such  a  manner  that  even  the  hair 
of  the  eyelids  and  eyebrows  remain  unruffled,  and 
the  corpse  preserves  its  natural  expression  of  coun- 
tenance and  personal  bearing.  Many  Egyptian 
families,  having,  by  this  means,  preserved  a  whole 
race  of  ancestors,  experience  an  inexpressible  conso- 
lation in  thus  beholding  them  in  the  same  figure, 
and  with  the  same  physiognomy,  as  if  they  were 
still  living. 

As  regards  those  who  have  been  killed  by  a  cro- 
codile, or  who  have  been  drowned  in  the  river,  the 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       67 

inhabitants  of  the  city  nearest  to  which  the  body- 
has  been  cast  ashore,  are  obUged  to  embalm  it ;  to 
adjust  it  in  the  most  magnificent  manner,  and  de- 
posit it  in  the  sacred  tombs.  Neither  the  relatives 
or  friends  are  permitted  to  touch  these  bodies ;  they 
are  embalmed  alone  by  the  priests  of  the  Nile,  con- 
sidering them  as  something  above  humanity. — (He- 
rodotus.) Are  these  sacred  tombs  those  of  the  God 
Apis?  Were  there  places  of  sepulchre  different 
from  the  caves  and  pyramids  ? 

The  expense  and  care  required  for  the  embalm- 
ing of  princes  must  have  been  immense,  as  may  be 
conjectured  by  the  following  fact.  A  portion  of 
mummy  preserved  in  the  cabinet  of  Saint  Gene- 
vieve, merits  all  the  eulogiums  that  could  be  given 
to  an  object  of  this  kind.  It  consists  of  the  foot,  leg, 
and  thigh  of  an  infant  two  or  three  years  old  ;  the 
care  wdth  which  this  embalming  was  made,  was 
known  to  those  who  presented  it  to  the  cabinet,  for 
they  had  written  upon  the  box  which  contained  this 
precious  relic  of  the  art,  mummy  of  the  little  prince 
of  Memphis.  This  denomination  has  no  other  foun- 
dation, perhaps,  than  the  nature  of  the  work,  and 
the  sensible  difference  observed  between  this  and 
other  mummies.  The  surface  of  the  flesh  is  black, 
and  so  smooth  that  it  may  be  compared  to  a  fine 
Chinese  varnish ;  the  flesh  has  not  altogether  pre- 
served its  softness,  but  all  the  thickness  and  plump- 
ness peculiar  to  little  children  can  be  distinguished, 
as  well  as  the  articulations  and  all  the  little  wrinkles 
of  the  fingers.  Tiie  nails  are  perfectly  preserved 
and  well  set  on  ;  they  have  neither  colour  nor  gild- 
ing, although  they  appear  to  have  been  gilded.  The 


68       EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

bandages  do  not  appear  to  have  been  imbued  with 
the  same  bitumens  used  for  other  mummies ;  the 
colour  which  they  have  acquired  by  the  dried  bal- 
samic materials,  as  might  be  anticipated,  resembles 
that  of  canella,  although  the  odour,  which  is  agree- 
able, has  no  analogy  to  that  aromatic. 

The  bandages  are  fine,  detached,  and  proportioned 
to  the  body  which  they  cover ;  they  are  arranged 
with  the  greatest  care  and  repeated  a  great  number 
of  times.  Besides,  the  thigh  bone,  of  which  there  is 
about  four  fingers  breadth  uncovered,  has  suffered 
very  little  alteration  in  its  colour,  nothing  more  than 
what  the  air  alone  might  produce.  Rouelle,  with 
whom  M.  de  Caylus  visited  this  mummy,  remarked, 
on  piercing  with  a  pin  the  sole  of  this  foot,  that  the 
skin  resembled  stretched  parchment,  and  was  empty 
beneath — all  of  which  proves  a  richer  and  more  ex- 
tensive preparation  destined  for  princes.  We  may 
add  to  this  conjecture,  that  the  cases  of  touchstone, 
or  of  basalt,  always  expensive  on  account  of  their 
hardness,  cases  so  rare  that  only  three  or  four  have 
been  found,  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  made 
only  for  princes,  and  even  the  more  eminent  of 
those. 

We  have  not  hesitated  to  include  in  this  work  the 
preceding  observations,  because  they  appeared  to  us 
necessary  to  rectify  or  complete  the  facts  advanced 
by  Herodotus,  Diodorus  Sicculus,  Plutarch,  Por- 
phyrus,  and  many  others.  But  the  whole  of  these 
m.aterials  have  need  of  new  lights,  drawn  from  re- 
searches  made  upon  the  spot.  The  scientific  com- 
mission of  Egypt  felt  the  necessity  of  this,  and  se- 
veral of  its  members  applied  themselves  to  personal 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       69 

examinations  of  the  pyramids  and  caverns  ;  and  one 
of  them,  M.  Rouyer,  in  his  memoir  on  Egyptian 
embalming-,  traces  us  a  history  nearly  complete. 
The  following;'  are  the  most  interestine:  details : 

The  art  of  embalming  is  totally  unknown  at  the 
present  day  in  those  places  which  gave  it  birth,  and 
it  has  remained  buried  in  profound  forgetfulness, 
since  Egypt,  which,  long  the  home  of  the  sciences 
and  the  arts,  has  been  overrun  and  successively  ra- 
vaged by  barbarian  nations,  who  have  destroyed  all 
its  institutions,  political  and  religious. 

The  historians,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  all 
we  know  at  the  present  time  of  the  ancient  wonders 
of  Egypt,  and  who  have  written  during  the  period 
when  the  Egyptians  still  possessed  some  of  their 
customs,  could  alone  transmit  to  us  the  ingenious 
secret  of  embalming ;  but  their  recitals  prove,  that 
they  themselves  possessed  but  an  imperfect  know- 
ledge of  it. 

All  the  ancient  authors  agree,  in  saying  that  the 
Egyptians  made  use  of  various  aromatics  to  embalm 
the  dead ;  that  they  employed  for  the  rich,  myrrh, 
(the  resin  of  a  species  of  Mimosa,)  aloes,  (the  ex- 
tracto-resinous  juice  of  i\\&  Aloe perfoliata,)  canella, 
(bark  of  the  Laurus  cinamomum,)  and  the  cassia 
lignea,  (bark  of  the  Laurus  cassia;)  and  for  the 
poor,  the  cedria,  (the  fluid  resin  of  the  Pinus  ce- 
drus,)  bitumen,  {Bitumen jiidaicum,  derived  from  the 
Dead  sea,)  and  natrum,  (a  mixture  of  the  carbonate, 
sulphate,  and  muriate  of  soda.) 

Although  the  recitals  of  Herodotus,  and  of  Diodo- 
rus  Sicculus,  on  embalming,  are  not  very  complete, 
and  that  some  details  appear  inexact  and  improba- 


70      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

ble,  as  several  of  the  French  investigators  have  ob- 
served, however,  on  placing  in  convenient  order 
what  Herodotus  relates  on  this  subject,  we  shall  soon 
perceive  that  he  has  described  in  a  few  lines  almost 
the  whole  theory  of  embalming.  The  Egyptian  em- 
balmers  knew  how  to  distinguish  from  the  other 
viscera,  the  liver,  the  spleen,  and  the  kidneys,  which 
they  did  not  disturb ;  they  had  discovered  the  means 
of  withdrawing  the  brain  from  the  interior  of  the 
cranium  without  destroying  the  bones  of  the  latter; 
they  knew  the  action  of  the  alkalies  upon  animal 
matter,  since  the  time  was  strictly  limited  that  the 
body  could  remain  in  contact  with  these  substances ; 
they  were  not  ignorant  of  the  property  of  balsams,  and 
resins  to  protect  the  bodies  from  the  larvge  of  insects 
and  mites ;  they  were  likewise  aware  of  the  neces- 
sity of  enveloping  the  dried  and  embalmed  bodies, 
in  order  to  protect  them  from  humidity,  which  would 
interfere  with  their  preservation.  These  people  had 
established  invariable  rules  and  a  certain  method 
for  the  process  of  embalming.  We  remark,  in  effect, 
that  the  labour  of  those  who  were  charged  with  em- 
balming the  dead,  consisted  in  two  principal  opera- 
tions, very  distinct :  the  first,  to  subtract  from  the 
interior  of  the  corpse  all  that  might  become  a  cause 
of  corruption  during  the  time  allotted  to  dry  it;  the 
second,  to  secure  the  body  from  any  cause  that 
might  subsequently  occasion  its  destruction. 

The  odoriferous  resins  and  bitumen  not  only 
preserved  from  destruction,  but  also  kept  at  a  dis- 
tance, the  worms  and  beetles  which  devour  dead 
bodies.  The  embalmers,  after  having  washed  the 
bodies  with  that  vineous  liquor  which   Herodotus 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       71 

and  Diodorus  call  palm  wine,  and  having  filled 
them  with  odoriferous  resins  or  bitumen,  they 
placed  them  in  stoves,  where,  by  means  of  a  conve- 
nient heat,  these  resinous  substances  united  inti- 
mately with  the  bodies,  and  these  arrive  in  very 
little  time,  to  that  state  of  perfect  desiccation  in 
which  we  find  them  at  the  present  day.  This  ope- 
ration, of  which  no  historian  has  spoken,  was,  with- 
out doubt,  the  principal  and  most  important  of  em- 
balmingf. 

The  most  noted  grottoes  and  pyramids  have  been 
sacked  by  the  Arabs.  Also,  in  search  of  treasure, 
they  have  penetrated  into  the  bosom  of  mountains, 
and  descended  into  those  vast  and  deep  excavations, 
where  they  arrive  only  by  long  canals,  with  which 
some  are  encumbered.  Here,  in  chambers,  or  spe- 
cies of  pits,  worked  into  the  rock,  are  found  millions 
of  mummies,  piled  upon  each  other,  which  appear 
to  have  been  arranged  with  a  certain  symmetry,  al- 
though many  are  now  found  displaced  and  broken. 

Near  these  deep  pits,  which  served  for  a  common 
sepulture  for  several  families,  we  meet  also  with 
other  smaller  chambers,  and  some  narrow  cavities 
in  form  of  niches,  which  were  destined  to  hold  one 
mummy  only,  or  at  most  two.  The  grottoes  of 
Thebes  enclose  a  great  number  of  mummies,  better 
preserved  than  those  in  the  caverns  and  pits  of  Sag- 
garah.  It  is  particularly,  near  the  ruins  of  Thebes, 
in  the  interior  of  the  mountains  which  extend  from 
■the  entrance  of  the  valley  of  the  Tomb  of  Kings,  to 
Medynet  Abou,  that  I  have  seen  many  entire  and 
well  preserved  mummies. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  mc  to  estimate  the  pro- 


72      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

digious  number  of  those  which  I  have  found  scat- 
tered and  heaped  in  the  sepulchral  chambers,  and 
in  the  multitude  of  caA^erns  which  exist  in  the  in- 
terior of  this  mountain.  I  have  developed  and  ex- 
amined a  great  number  of  them,  as  much  with  the 
view  of  inquiring  into  their  state,  and  examining  the 
preparation,  as  with  the  hope  of  finding  idols,  pa- 
pyrus, and  other  curious  objects,  that  the  most  part 
of  these  mummies  enclose  beneath  their  envelopes. 
I  have  not  remarked,  what  Maillet  asserts,  caverns 
specially  destined  to  the  sepulture  of  men,  of  wo- 
men, and  of  infants  ;  but  I  was  surprised  to  find  so 
few  infant  mummies  in  the  tombs  which  I  visited. 
These  embalmed  bodies,  among  which  we  meet 
with  nearly  an  equal  number  of  men  and  women, 
and  which  at  first  view  appear  to  resemble  each 
other,  and  to  have  been  prepared  in  the  same  man- 
ner, differ,  nevertheless,  in  the  various  substances 
which  have  been  employed  to  embalm  them,  or  in 
the  arrangement  and  in  the  quality  of  the  linen  em- 
ployed to  envelope  them. 

The  Count  de  Caylus,  and  the  celebrated  che- 
mist, Rouelle,  have  supposed  that  all  the  cloths  that 
enveloped  the  mummies  were  of  cotton ;  I  have  found 
a  great  number  of  them  which  were  enveloped  in 
linen  bandages,  of  a  much  finer  tissue  than  those  of 
cotton,  which  are  commonly  found  around  mum- 
mies prepared  with  less  care.  The  mummies  of 
birds,  particularly  those  of  the  Ibis,  are  also  enve- 
loped with  linen  bandages.  On  examining  with  at- 
tention and  in  detail  some  of  the  mummies  foimd  in 
the  tombs,  I  have  distinguished  two  principal 
classes  :  those  in  which  they  have  made,  on  the  left 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       73 

side  above  the  groin,  an  incision  about  two  and  a 
half  inches  long,  penetrating  into  the  lower  cavity 
of  the  belly ;  and  those  which  have  no  incision 
whatever  in  any  part  of  the  body.  In  both  classes, 
we  find  many  mummies  with  the  partition  of  the 
nose  torn,  and  the  ethmoidal  bone  entirely  destroyed ; 
but  some  of  the  last  class  have  the  spongy  bones 
untouched,  and  the  ethmoidal  bone  entire,  which 
might  make  it  appear  that,  sometimes  the  em- 
balmers  did  not  disturb  the  brain.  The  openino- 
found  in  the  side  of  most  mummies,  was  doubtless 
made  in  all  cases  of  select  embalming,  not  only  for 
the  purpose  of  withdrawing  the  intestines,  which 
are  not  found  in  any  of  these  desiccated  bodies,  but 
also  the  better  to  clean  the  cavity  of  the  belly,  and 
to  fill  it  with  a  greater  quantity  of  aromatic  and  re- 
sinous substances,  the  volume  of  which  contributed 
to  preserve  the  body,  at  the  same  time  that  the 
strong  odour  of  the  resins  kept  off  the  insects  and 
worms.  This  opening  does  not  appear  to  me  to 
have  been  sewn  up,  as  Herodotus  asserts  ;  the  bor- 
ders have  only  been  brought  together,  and  are  re 
tained  so  by  desiccation. 

1.  Among  the  mummies  with  an  incision  in  the 
left  side,  I  distinguish  those  which  have  been  de- 
siccated by  means  of  tanno-balsamic  substances,  and 
those  that  have  been  salted.  The  mummies  that 
have  been  dried  by  means  of  astringent  and  bal- 
samic substances,  are  filled  as  with  a  mixture  of 
aromatic  resins,  and  the  others  with  asphaltum  or 
pure  bitumen. 

Mummies  filled  with  aromatic  resins  are  of  an 
olive  colour  ;  the  skin  is  dry  and  flexible,  like  tanned 

10 


74       EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

leather  ;  it  is  rather  contracted  upon  itself,  and  ap- 
pears to  form  but  one  body  with  the  fibres  and  the 
bones,  the  features  of  the  face  are  recognizable,  and 
appear  to  be  the  same  as  in  the  living  state ;  the 
belly  and  chest  are  filled  Avith  a  mixture  of  friable 
resins,  soluble  in  part  in  spirits  of  wine  :  these  resins 
possess  no  particular  odour  rendering  them  recog- 
nizable ;  but,  thrown  upon  living  coals,  they  shed  a 
thick  smoke  and  a  strongly  aromatic  odour.  These 
mummies  are  very  dry,  and  easily  unrolled  and 
broken;  they  still  preserve  all  their  teeth,  the  hair 
of  the  head  and  eyebrows.  Some  of  them  have  been 
gilded  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  body ;  others 
are  gilded  only  on  the  face,  the  natural  parts,  on  the 
hands  and  on  the  feet;  these  gildings  are  common 
to  a  considerable  number  of  mummies,  which  pre- 
vents me  from  partaking  in  the  opinion  of  some  tra- 
vellers, who  suppose  that  this  kind  of  decoration 
was  restricted  to  princes,  and  persons  of  a  very  dis- 
ting^uished  rank. 

These  mummies  which  have  been  prepared  with 
great  care,  are  unalterable  so  long  as  they  are  re- 
tained in  a  dry  place ;  but,  unbound,  and  exposed 
to  the  air,  they  promptly  attract  moisture,  and  after 
a  few  days  shed  a  disagreeable  odour.  Mummies 
filled  with  pure  bitumen,  are  of  a  black  colour ;  the 
skin  is  hard  and  shining,  as  if  it  had  been  covered 
with  a  varnish,  the  features  of  the  face  are  not  al- 
tered ;  the  belly,  breast,  and  head,  are  filled  with  a 
resinous  substance,  black,  hard,  and  with  but  little 
odour.  This  matter,  which  I  have  taken  from  the 
interior  of  many  mummies,  has  presented  the  same 
physical  characters,  and  has  given,  by  chemical  ana- 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      75 

lysis,  the  same  results  as  the  Jew's  pitch  of  com- 
merce. These  sort  of  mummies,  which  are  met  with 
commonly  enough  in  all  caverns,  are  dry,  heavy, 
without  odour,  difficult  to  unfold  and  to  break.  Al- 
most all  have  the  face,  the  natural  parts,  the  hands, 
and  the  feet  gilded  ;  they  appear  to  have  been  pre- 
pared with  much  care ;  they  are  very  little  suscep- 
tible of  alteration,  and  do  not  attract  the  moisture 
of  the  air.  The  mummies  with  an  incision  in  the 
left  side,  and  w^hich  have  been  salted,  are  equally 
filled,  the  one  with  resinous  substances,  and  the 
other  with  asphaltum.  These  two  sorts  differ  but 
little  from  the  preceding  :  the  skin  has  also  a  black- 
ish colour,  but  it  is  hard,  smooth,  and  stretched  like 
parchment ;  there  is  a  space  existing  beneath  it,  and 
it  is  not  glued  against  the  bones ;  the  resins  and  bi- 
tumen which  have  been  injected  into  the  belly  and 
chest  are  less  friable,  and  do  not  reserve  any  odour; 
the  features  of  the  face  are  somewhat  altered,  very 
httle  hair  remains,  which  falls  when  touched.  These 
two  sorts  of  mummies  exist  in  great  numbers  in  all 
the  caverns  :  when  unwrapped  and  exposed  to  the 
air,  they  absorb  moisture,  and  become  covered  with 
a  light  saline  efflorescence,  which  I  have  ascertained 
to  be  sulphate  of  soda. 

2.  Amongst  those  mummies  without  an  incision 
in  the  left  side,  nor  in  any  other  part  of  the  body, 
and  from  which  the  intestines  have  been  withdrawn 
from  the  fundament,  I  also  distinguish  two  sorts; 
those  which  have  been  salted,  and  then  filled  with  a 
bituminous  matter  less  pure  than  that  which  histo- 
rians and  naturalists  call  pisasphaltwn  ;  and  those 
which  have  been  only  salted. 


76       EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

The  injections  with  cedria,  or  the  surmaia  for  dis- 
solving the  intestines,  according  to  Herodotus,  could 
not  produce  this  effect ;  it  is  much  more  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  these  injections  were  composed  of 
natrum  rendered  caustic,  which  dissolved  the  vis- 
cera ;  and  that  after  having  emptied  the  intestines, 
the  embalmers  filled  the  belly  with  cedria,  or  with 
some  other  fluid  resin  which  dried  with  the  body. 

The  salted  mummies,  which  are  filled  with  pisas- 
phaltum,  no  longer  retain  any  recognizable  feature  : 
not  only  have  all  the  cavities  of  the  body  been  filled 
with  this  bitumen,  but  the  surface  is  also  covered 
with  it.  This  matter  has  so  penetrated  the  skin, 
the  muscles,  and  the  bones,  that  it  forms  with  them 
but  one  and  the  same  mass. 

On  examining  these  mummies,  we  are  led  to  be- 
lieve that  the  bituminous  matter  has  been  injected 
very  hot,  and  that  the  bodies  have  been  plunged 
into  a  kettle  containing  bitumen  in  liquifaction. 
These  mummies,  the  most  common  and  numerous 
of  all  those  we  meet  with  in  the  caverns,  are  black, 
hard,  heavy,  of  a  penetrating  and  disagreeable  odour ; 
they  are  very  difficult  to  break ;  they  have  no  longer 
either  hair  or  eyebrows,  none  have  been  found 
gilded.  Some  of  them  only  have  the  palm  of  the 
hands,  the  soles  of  the  feet,  the  nails  of  the  fingers 
and  toes  tinged  with  red,  with  this  same  colour  used 
by  the  natives  of  Egypt  of  the  present  day,  to  stain 
the  palms  of  the  hand  and  soles  of  the  feet,  (the 
henna,  or  Lawsonia  inermis.)  The  bituminous  mat- 
ter which  I  have  taken  from  them,  is  greasy  to  the 
touch,  less  black,  and  less  friable  than  asphaltum ; 
it  communicates  to  every  thing  that  touches  it,  a 


EMBALMING   AMONG  THE   ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       77 

strong  and  penetrating  odour ;  it  is  only  imperfectly 
soluble  in  alcohol ;  thrown  upon  living  coals  it  sheds 
a  thick  smoke,  and  disagreeable  odour  ;  distilled,  it 
yields  an  abundant  oil,  thick,  of  a  brown  colour,  and 
fetid  odour.  These  are  the  species  of  mummies 
which  the  Arabs,  and  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity  of 
the  plain  of  Saggarah,  formerly  sold  to  Europeans, 
and  which  became  an  article  of  commerce  for  the 
use  of  medicine  and  painting,  or  as  objects  of  anti- 
quity ;  those  filled  with  Jew's  pitch  were  preferred, 
since  it  is  to  this  matter,  which  had  for  a  long  time 
remained  in  the  body,  they  attributed  formerly  such 
marvellous  medicinal  properties ;  this  substance, 
which  was  named  balm  ofmummij,  w^as  subsequently 
in  great  request  among  the  oil  painters ;  it  is  on 
this  account,  that  at  first  the  mummy  filled  with  bi- 
tumen was  the  only  kind  known  in  France.  They 
are  A^ery  little  exposed  to  alteration  ;  exposed  to  hu- 
midity, they  become  covered  with  a  slight  saline 
efflorescence  with  a  base  of  soda.  Mummies  which 
have  been  only  salted  and  dried,  are  generally  more 
badly  preserved  than  those  in  which  are  found  re- 
sins and  bitumen. 

Many  varieties  are  met  with  in  these  last  sort  of 
mummies ;  but  it  appears  that  this  is  due  to  the 
want  of  care  and  negligence  of  the  embalmers  in 
their  preparation.  Some,  still  entire,  have  the  skin 
dry,  white,  smooth,  and  stretched  like  parchment; 
they  are  light,  inodorous,  and  easily  broken ;  others 
have  the  skin  equally  white,  but  a  little  supple ; 
having  been  less  dried,  they  have  assumed  a  fatty 
state.  We  find  also  in  these  mummies,  masses  of 
that  fatty,  yellowish  matter,  which  naturalists  call 


78      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

adipocere.  The  features  of  the  face  are  entirely  de- 
stroyed, the  eyebrows  and  hair  have  fallen ;  the 
bones  become  detached  from  their  ligaments  with- 
out any  effort,  they  are  as  white  and  clean  as  those 
of  a  skeleton  prepared  for  the  study  of  osteology ; 
the  cloth  which  envelopes  them,  tears,  and  falls  to 
pieces  at  the  slightest  touch.  These  sort  of  mum- 
mies, commonly  found  in  particular  caves,  contain 
a  considerable  quantity  of  saline  substance,  which 
I  have  ascertained  to  consist  almost  entirely  of  sul- 
phate of  soda.  The  various  species  of  mummies  of 
which  I  have  just  spoken,  are  swarthed  with  an  art 
which  it  would  be  difficult  to  imitate.  Numerous 
linen  bandages,  several  metres  in  length  compose 
their  envelope ;  they  are  applied  one  over  the  other, 
to  the  number  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thicknesses,  and 
thus  make  several  revolutions,  first  around  each 
member,  then  around  the  whole  body ;  they  are  so 
compact,  and  interlaced  with  so  much  address  and 
skill,  that  they  appear  to  have  endeavoured  by  this 
means,  to  render  to  these  bodies,  considerably  re- 
duced by  desiccation,  their  original  form  and  natu- 
ral thickness. 

All  the  mummies  are  enveloped  nearly  in  the 
same  manner ;  there  is  no  other  difference  than  the 
number  of  the  bandages  which  surround  them,  and 
the  quality  of  the  linen,  the  tissue  of  which  is  more 
or  less  fine,  according  as  the  embalming  was  more 
or  less  precious.  The  body  embalmed,  is  at  first 
covered  with  a  narrow  chemise,  we  find  only  one 
large  bandage  enveloping  the  whole  body.  The 
head  is  covered  with  a  piece  of  square  linen  cloth, 
of  a  very  fine  texture,  the  centre  of  which  forms  a 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      79 

species  of  mask ;  five  or  six  are  thus  found  some- 
times applied  one  upon  the  other  ;  the  last  being  ge- 
nerally painted  or  gilded,  and  represents  the  figure 
of  the  person  embalmed.  Each  part  of  the  body  is 
separately  enveloped  by  several  bandages  impreg- 
nated with  resin.  The  legs  brought  together,  and 
the  arms  crossed  upon  the  chest,  are  fixed  in  this 
position  by  other  bandages  which  envelope  the  whole 
body.  These  latter,  generally  loaded  with  hierogly- 
phical  figures,  and  fixed  by  long  fillets  which  tra- 
verse each  other  with  much  art  and  symmetry,  finish 
the  envelope. 

Immediately  after  these  first  bands,  are  found  va- 
rious idols  in  gold,  bronze,  varnished  terra  cotta, 
wood,  gilded  or  painted,  rolls  of  papyri  manuscripts, 
and  many  other  objects  which  have  no  relation  to 
the  religion  of  these  people,  but  which  appear  to  be 
only  souvenirs  of  objects  cherished  during  life.     It 
was  in  one  of  these  mummies,  placed  in  the  bottom 
of  a  cave  of  the  interior  of  the  mountain,  (behind 
the  Memnonium  temple  of  the  plain  of  Thebes,) 
that  I  found  a  voluminous  papyrus,  which  w^ill  be 
found  engraved  in  the  work.     (Vide  the  plates  61, 
62,  63,  Q4  and  65,  of  the  second  vol.  of  the  plates  of 
antiquities,  and  the  description  of  the  Hypogees  of 
the  city  of  Thebes. )    This  papyrus  was  rolled  upon 
itself,  and  had  been  placed  between  the  thighs  of 
the  patient,  immediately  after  the  first  bandages  of 
linen ;  this  male  mummy,  the  trunk  of  which  was 
broken,  did  not  appear  to  me  to  have  been  em- 
balmed in  a  first  rate  manner ;  it  had  been  enveloped 
in  an  ordinary  linen  cloth,  and  had  been  filled  with 


80      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

asphaltum :  the  nails  of  the  toes  had  alone  been 
gilded. 

Almost  all  the  mummies  which  are  found  in  the 
subterranean  caverns,  which  can  yet  be  penetrated, 
are  thus  enveloped  with  linen  bandages,  with  a 
painted  masque  on  the  face.  It  is  rare  to  fmd  any 
enclosed  in  cases,  of  which  some  wrecks  only  re- 
main at  the  present  day.  These  cases,  which  served 
doubtless,  only  for  the  rich,  or  for  persons  of  distinc- 
tion, were  double ;  those  in  which  the  mummies 
were  deposited,  were  made  of  a  kind  of  carton  or 
pasteboard,  composed  of  many  pieces  glued  to- 
gether; this  case  was  subsequently  enclosed  in  a 
second,  constructed  of  the  wood  of  sycamore  or 
cedar." 

It  results,  if  we  are  not  mistaken,  from  the  ana- 
logy of  so  many  carefully  made  observations,  a  con- 
sequence to  which  we  might  not  have  arrived  by 
long  continued  reasoning  :  simple  embalming  might 
have  been  practised  among  the  Egyptians  from  the 
earliest  period  of  their  civilization,  without  a  very 
exact  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  preservation  of  ani- 
mal matter,  and  before  the  other  arts  w^ere  far  ad- 
vanced. A  description  of  the  Plain  of  Mummies 
by  M.  de  Maillet,  will  give  to  this  opinion,  already 
so  firmly  established,  the  value  of  a  demonstrated 
truth. 

"  Opposite  the  borough  of  Manof,  looking  towards 
the  west,  is  situated  the  Plain  of  Mummies — ap- 
proximated to  the  north  by  the  southern  pyramids, 
which  are  a  continuation  of  the  cemetery  which  the 
inhabitants  of  Memphis  had  on  this  side — a  plaiii 
•famous,  from  the  number  of  mummies  which  have 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      81 

been  taken  of  late  from  the  subterranean  caverns 
which  exist  beneath  these  sands,  and  by  the  still 
greater  numbers  of  the  embalmed  bodies  which  it 
encloses.  This  plain  is  circular  and  level,  and  may 
be  about  four  leagues  in  breadth  or  diameter,  so  that 
it  is  certain  that  it  is  more  than  twelve  leaofues  in 
circumference.  Its  base  is  a  very  flat  rock,  which 
was  formerly  covered  by  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and 
which  is  covered  at  present  with  five  or  six  feet  ot 
sand.  It  is  in  this  rock  that  those  who  did  not  pos- 
sess the  means  of  building  pyramids  to  enclose  their 
bodies  after  death,  secured  a  repose  which  we  know 
that  the  Egyptians  held  of  great  consequence,  and 
found  aless  difficult  art  of  making;  asylums,  which  they 
were  persuaded  would  be  sheltered  from  the  fury 
and  impiety  of  men,  and  would  secure  to  them  the 
return  of  their  souls  to  the  same  bodies,  in  case  that 
their  tombs  should  not  be  violated.  With  this  view, 
they  chose  at  first  a  place  in  this  plain,  where  it  was 
necessary  to  commence  by  taking  away  seven  or 
eight  feet  of  moveable  sand.  After  having  emptied 
a  circumscribed  space,  and  perfectly  cleaned  it,  they 
commenced  penetrating  the  rock  by  a  hole  of  a  foot 
and  a  half  or  two  feet  in  diameter ;  and  after  having 
attained  the  depth  of  about  five  or  six  feet,  they  la- 
boured to  enlarge  the  hole  and  form  a  chamber  in 
the  rock.  It  was  by  this  hole  that  the  body  de- 
scended to  be  deposited  in  these  tombs ;  after  which, 
they  so  accurately  covered  the  opening  with  a  stone, 
as  not  to  admit  either  light  or  sand. 

"  In  these  chambers,  formed  in  the  rock,  and  to  a 
considerable  extent,  they  had  hollowed  out  many 
niches  in  which  were  placed  the  bodies  of  the  heads 

11 


82      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

of  families  for  whom  these  sepulchres  were  destined. 
These  niches  were  made  vertically.      The  bodies 
were  thus  placed  upright  in  the  cases  which  en- 
closed them,  and  from  whence,  in  latter  times,  they 
have  taken  such  great  numbers.     These  cases  are 
made  of  sycamore,  which  never  rots,  and  consist  of 
only  two  pieces.     The  first,  in  which  the  body  is 
enclosed,  is  very  deep,  and  excavated  with  great  la- 
bour ;  the  second  serves  as  a  cover,  and  fits  the  coffin 
perfectly.     Some  of  these  cases  have  been  found 
with  glass  eyes,  through  which,  without  uncovering 
them,  may  be  seen  the  body  of  the  mummy  en- 
closed.    Others  have  been  met  with  double,  that  is 
to  say,  one  case  enclosed  within  another,  Avhich 
leads  to  the  belief  that  the  first  doubtless,  contained 
the  body  of  some  person  of  distinction.     It  is,  how- 
ever, very  rare  to  find  a  body  enclosed  in  a  costly 
case,  because  the  Arabs  who  discover  them,  never 
fail  to  break  to  pieces  these  kind  of  bodies  in  search 
of  golden  idols,  in  which,  indeed,  they  are  often  suc- 
cessful.    They  afterwards  replace  the  body  in  a 
common  case,  where  idols  of  any  value  are  seldom 
found.     Some  time  ago,  the  master  of  Saccara,  a 
village  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Plain  of  Mummies,  in- 
vestigated the  openings  of  some  of  these  subterra- 
nean sepulchres,  and  as  he  is  a  firm  friend  of  mine, 
he  presented  me  with  various  curiosities,  a  great 
number  of  mummies,  images  in  wood,  and  inscrip- 
tions of  a  hieroglyphical  and  unknown  character, 
which  had  been  found  there. 

"In  one  of  these  chambers  they  found,  for  ex- 
ample, the  case  and  the  mummy  of  a  woman,  be- 
fore which  was  a  wooden  figure  of  a  young  boy  on 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       83 

his  knees,  with,  one  finger  on  his  hps,  and  in  the 
other  hand  holding  a  chaffing  dish,  resting  on  his 
head,  and  in  which  there  had  doubtless  been  per- 
fume. This  young  man  was  marked  on  the  sto- 
mach with  some  hieroglyphic  characters ;  they 
broke  it  to  pieces  to  see  if  it  contained  gold.  They 
found  in  the  mummy,  which  they  opened  for  the 
same  reason,  a  little  vase  a  foot  long,  containing  the 
same  balm  which  they  use  for  preserving  the  body 
from  corruption.  I  took  to  pieces  another  female 
mummy,  of  which  the  Sieur  Bagarry  made  me  a 
present.  The  opening  was  made  in  the  house  of  the 
Capuchin  fathers  of  this  city ;  and  they  had  the  im- 
prudence to  cut  the  fillets  with  scissors  ;  these  bands, 
of  considerable  length  and  breadth,  were  not  only 
charged  from  one  end  to  the  other  with  hierogly- 
phic figures,  but  they  also  discovered  beneath  cer- 
tain unknown  characters,  traced  from  right  to  left 
and  forming  a  species  of  verse.  Indeed,  they  re- 
marked the  same  termination  in  several  little  con- 
secutive lines.  It  consisted  most  probably,  of  the 
eulogium  of  this  person,  written  in  the  language 
which  was  in  use,  in  his  time,  in  Egypt,  However 
this  may  be,  these  bandages  taken  to  pieces,  were 
immediately  pillaged  by  some  pedlars,  who  were 
present  with  me  at  the  opening  of  this  mummy ; 
there  was  only  left  for  me  a  small  portion,  which  I 
have  since  sent  to  France  :  none  of  the  Savans  have 
been  able  to  decipher  them.  This  mummy  held  the 
right  hand  applied  to  his  stomach,  and  under  this 
hand  were  held  instrumental  cords  perfectly  pre- 
served ;  whence  I  concluded  that  it  was  the  body  of 
a  person  who  played  upon  some  instrument,  or  who. 


84      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

at  least,  had  been  addicted  to  music.  I  am  per- 
suaded that,  if  each  mummy  was  examined  with 
the  same  care,  some  sign  of  this  nature  would  be 
occasionally  met  with. 

"  I  have  made  another  observation,  which  appears 
to  me  neither  less  curious  nor  less  useful ;  it  is,  that 
in  these  mummies  all  the  faces  differ,  some  are  re- 
markable for  youth,  others  for  beauty.  Those  who 
have  seen  whole  mummies  know  that  they  have  all 
a  gilded  mask,  composed  of  several  folds  of  silk 
cloth,  which  form  a  kind  of  very  solid  carton.  I 
judged  from  this  diversity,  that  the  masks  or  car- 
tons, crowded  with  hieroglyphic  characters,  which 
indicate,  without  doubt,  the  age,  the  actions,  the 
manners,  and  the  condition  of  the  person ,  were  also  a 
natural  representation  of  them,  either  that  care  had 
been  taken  to  form  this  model  during  life,  or  that  it 
had  only  been  taken  after  death  by  applying  these 
cloths  to  the  face,  after  the  same  manner  that  we 
take  the  likeness  of  a  corpse  in  the  present  day  with 
plaster  or  wax.  By  this  means,  they  not  only  pre- 
served the  bodies  of  a  family  entire,  but,  on  enter- 
ing these  subterranean  places  where  they  were  de- 
posited, they  could  in  an  instant  see  represented  all 
their  ancestors  for  a  thousand  years,  such  nearly,  as 
they  were  when  living ;  nothing  was  more  likely 
vividly  to  recall  the  recollection  of  their  virtues,  to 
perpetuate  their  memory  and  love  in  the  hearts  of 
their  posterity. 

"  Not  satisfied  to  preserve,  by  these  means,  the 
recollection  of  their  princes  and  of  their  relatives, 
the  Egyptians  still  further  deposited  their  marble 
images  near  to  their  mummy.   I  have  certain  proofs 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       85 

of  what  I  advance,  in  one  of  the  most  curious  anti- 
quities which  I  have  acquired  in  this  country.  It 
is  a  figure  in  three  pieces,  representing  a  woman. 
The  head  and  the  feet  are  of  black  touchstone  ;  the 
body  is  sheathed,  and  made  of  verd  antique  marble, 
rayed  with  white.  These  three  pieces  united,  form 
a  figure  five  feet  five  inches  in  height.  It  is  very 
perfect,  and  of  exquisite  beauty.  The  priest  who 
sold  it  to  me  with  great  scruples,  and  at  a  high 
price,  swore  by  the  Evangelist,  that  the  figure  was 
found  in  a  pyramid  seven  or  eight  hundred  years 
ago. 

"  In  these  chambers  of  which  I  speak,  are  found 
many  niches,  some  large,  others  small,  the  cham- 
bers also  often  communicate,  from  a  second  to  a 
third,  and  sometimes  even  to  a  fourth;  but  it  is  not 
to  be  understood,  that  all  the  bodies  deposited  in 
these  sombre  apartments,  were  all  enclosed  in  cases 
and  placed  in  these  niches ;  the  most  of  them  were 
simply  embalmed  and  swathed,  as  every  one  knows ; 
after  which  they  contented  themselves  in  arranging 
them  thus  carelessly  near  each  other ;  some  of  them 
were  even  placed  in  these  tombs  without  being  em- 
balmed, or  w^ere  so  lightly  so,  that  at  the  present 
time  there  remain  only  the  bones  among  the  linen 
which  enveloped  them,  and  M-hich  are  half  rotten. 
It  is  thus  also  are  seen  in  some  of  these  chambers 
heaps  of  bones  mixed  with  these  sort  of  linens,  which 
have  been  left  after  they  carried  off  the  bodies  which 
were  preserved  entire,  to  be  exported  beyond  the 
seas.  It  is  probable,  that  every  family  of  any  con- 
sideration, had  for  themselves  one  of  these  sepul- 
chres ;  that  the  niches  were  destined  to  receive  the 


86       EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

heads  of  families,  and  that  those  of  domestics  and 
slaves  were  simply  placed  on  the  ground,  after  hav- 
ing been  embalmed,  or  even  without  that  ceremony ; 
it  is  the  same,  without  doubt,  as  regards  the  chiefs 
even  of  a  family  of  less  distinguished  houses.  They 
have  even  discovered,  lately,  in  this  plain  of  mum- 
mies, a  mode,  unknown  until  now,  of  burying  the 
dead.  At  the  extremity  of  this  extensive  plain  and 
towards  the  mountains  which  bound  it  on  the  west, 
beds  of  carbon  have  been  discovered,  upon  which 
bodies  lie  simply  swathed  with  linen,  and  covered 
by  a  mat,  seven  or  eight  feet  beneath  the  sands. 
Nevertheless,  it  ought  to  be  observed,  that  these  bo- 
dies, although  they  were  not  embalmed,  or  only 
slightly  so,  similar  to  those  which  they  had  neg- 
lected to  enclose  in  cases,  they  were  none  the  less 
protected  from  corruption." 

When  I  consider  with  what  facility  the  Egyp- 
tians were  able  to  preserve  their  dead,  I  can  scarcely 
comprehend  this  passage  of  an  author  otherwise  so 
ingenious  :  "  An  industry  so  complicated,  could  not 
have  presented  itself  all  at  once  to  the  genius  of  the 
people.  Like  all  other  nations  of  the  earth,  these 
could  only  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  arts,  pro- 
perly so  called,  after  securing  their  subsistence  by 
agriculture.  Review  all  these  arts,  arrang-e  them  in 
the  order  in  which  it  might  be  supposed  that  they 
originated,  and  endeavour  to  determine  the  precise 
period  of  each,  you  will  not  be  able  to  find  this.  His- 
tory is  mute  on  this  point;  and  however  rash  it  may 
be  to  interpret  her  silence,  it  is,  nevertheless,  evi- 
dent, that  the  art  of  embalming,  very  ancient  for  us, 
was  very  new  to  the  Egyptians,  and,  perhaps,  ulte- 


EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       87 

rior  to  all  others."  I  do  not  deny  that  this  mode  of 
rebutting  history  with  a  priori  views  and  conjec- 
tures, is  any  less  positive  than  the  method  of  histo- 
rians, who  do  it  often  by  acknowledged  falsehood  ; 
but  neither  one  of  them  are  assuredly  worth  much. 

The  numerous  facts  which  we  have  brought  to- 
gether in  this  chapter,  appears  to  us  most  calculated 
to  fix  all  the  questions  relative  to  embalming  which 
long  discussions  and  reasonings  have  lost  sight  of 
They  prove  that  bodies,  placed  in  the  bosom  of  the 
earth,  covered  only  with  a  few  feet  of  sand  have 
been  preserved  for  ages;  that  others  scarcely  em- 
balmed, have  been  discovered  untouched  :  after  this, 
what  becomes  of  the  necessity  of  advanced  arts,  and 
perfection  of  ingenuity,  when  on  the  other  hand,  we 
see  nations  that  have  attained  a  high  degree  of  civili- 
zation, with  an  immense  mass  of  knowledge  of  all 
kinds,  but  in  other  conditions,  geological  and' atmos- 
pherical, have  not  transmitted  to  us,  although  nearer 
our  own  epoch,  any  thing  more  than  a  little  dust 
from  the  most  gorgeous  sepulchres  ? 

The  brief  view  which  we  cast  upon  the  assem- 
blage of  facts  which  have  been  submitted  to  us,  leads 
to  totally  different  conclusions  from  those  which 
precede,  and  which  convinces  us — 1st.  Of  all  the 
arts,  that  of,  embalming  ought  the  most  readily  to 
have  presented  itself  to  the  mind  of  the  Guanches,  of 
the  Egyptians,  and  of  all  those  nations  placed  un- 
der analogous  atmospherical  and  geological  con- 
ditions :  2d.  For  no  others  does  nature  offer  more 
positive  lessons  or  more  efficient  aid :  3d.  The 
Egyptians  have  embalmed  from  the  earliest  period 
of  their  civilization,  before  any  art  was  very  much 


88      EMBALMING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

advanced ;  four  or  five  species  of  their  mummies  of- 
fer sufficient  proof  of  this :  4th.  The  arts  of  per- 
fecting and  weaving  tissues ;  of  melting,  fashioning, 
and  colouring  glass  and  metals ;  the  delicate  art  of 
engraving  on  fine  stones;  the  art  of  w^orking  wood, 
of  painting  it,  of  ornamenting  it,  and  of  giving  it  the 
eclat  of  gold,  of  varnish,  and  of  enamel ;  the  art  of 
preparing  perfumes,  and  of  causing  to  enter  even 
the  very  flesh,  odoriferous  powders,  essences,  and 
resins ;  all  these  arts  have  contributed,  according  to 
their  degree  of  development,  to  complicate  and  per- 
fect the  art  of  making  mummies,  so  simple  at  its 
commencement:  5th.  Transported  into  countries 
where  the  exterior  conditions  are  different,  this  art 
has  been  found  inefficacious,  and  has  scarcely  ever 
attained  its  end.  We  shall  have  proofs  of  this  in  the 
following  chapter. 


EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS,  ETC.         89 


CHAPTER  V. 

EMBALMING,  FROM  THE  EGYPTIANS  DOWN  TO  OUR  DAY. 

Here  facts  are  almost  entirely  wanting,  and  the 
history  of  the  art  we  are  studying,  can  only  be  fol- 
lowed in  the  recitals  of  historians,  to  control  whose 
veracity  we  have  no  longer  those  monuments  which 
Egypt  offers  us  in  such  great  numbers.  Among  the 
Jews,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  and  all  modern  na- 
tions, we  see  the  honours  of  embalming  accorded  to 
kings,  princes,  and  men  of  distinction  ;  but  no  tomb 
that  has  been  opened,  has  rendered  a  single  mummy 
so  perfect,  as  those  which  we  admire  among  the 
Egyptians;  and  if  some  rare  and  distant  examples 
inform  us  of  a  durable  preservation,  the  marvellous 
and  extraordinary  details  accompanying  it  causes  us 
to  doubt  the  fact  itself 

Thus,  on  the  assertion  of  Gabriel  Clauder,  they 
saw  in  the  time  of  St.  Augustin,  the  bodies  of  Alex- 
ander, and  of  Ptolemy  ;  their  tomb  has  been  visited 
for  many  ages,  and  they  were  enabled  to  distinguish 
the  skin  preserved  with  the  members.  But,  con- 
tinued they,  all  bodies  do  not  resemble  that  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  which  was  during  his  life,  accord- 
ing to  the  report  of  Plutarch,  and  of  Quintus  Cur- 
tius,  of  a  composition  so  rare  and  wonderful,  that 
his  skin,  mouth,  and  all  his  person,  rendered  a  very 
agreeable  odour,  and  perfumed  his  clothes.  It  is 
said  that  his  corpse,  by  the  negligence  of  his  friends 

12 


90  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

and  of  his  captains,  remained  several  days  without 
being  embalmed,  and  tliat,  nevertheless,  when  they 
went  to  visit  it,  it  was  found  sound,  without  blemish, 
having  even  the  complexion  as  fresh  and  florid  as  if 
he  had  been  living,  although  he  died  of  a  continued 
fever  :  his  appearance  was  so  natural  that  the  Egyp- 
tians and  Chaldeans,  who  were  charged  to  embalm 
him  after  their  own  manner,  were  at  first  afraid  to 
approach  him,  thinking  he  might  not  be  dead. 

Such  marvellous  accounts  are  not  sufficiently  in 
harmony  with  the  rigorous  course  which  we  have 
thus  far  followed,  to  induce  us  seriously  to  discuss 
them  ;  we  confine  ourselves  to  the  statement  of  each 
down  to  our  own  day,  where  well  established  facts 
will  offer  ample  matter  for  reflection. 

The  Jewish  people,  who,  like  others,  testified 
their  respect  for  the  dead,  never  admit  the  care  of 
embalming  the  body  as  a  common  usage.  Thus, 
Abraham  purchased  the  field  where  Sarah  was  bu- 
ried ;  Joseph  had  the  body  of  his  father  magnifi- 
cently embalmed;  Moses  only  carried  away  the 
bones  of  Joseph ;  David  praised  the  people  of  Gi- 
lead,  for  having  buried  with  pomp  Saul  and  his 
sons,  &c.  In  most  of  these  examples,  no  mention 
is  made  of  embalming ;  nevertheless,  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  embalmed.  The  following  is  nearly 
the  method  :  each  sex  took  care  of  its  dead ;  they, 
first  of  all,  close  the  mouth  and  eyes  of  the  expired 
person,  afterwards  they  shaved,  washed,  and  rubbed 
it  with  perfumes ;  they  tied  it  with  bands,  and  bu- 
ried it  in  several  cloths  of  very  fine  linen  or  woollen, 
and  finally,  they  put  it  into  the  sepulchre.  Corne- 
hus   Jansenius   thinks   that  the   myrrh  and  aloes 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  91 

which  they  employed,  had  the  virtue  powerfully  to 
resist  putrefaction.  It  is  useless  to  say  that  this  opi- 
nion is  without  foundation ;  that  the  great  quanti- 
ties of  aromatics  which  they  consumed,  was  rather 
for  pomp,  than  for  the  long  preservation  of  the  sub- 
ject. They  took  no  pains  to  dry  the  body  ;  they  did 
not  disembarrass  it  of  the  intestines,  and,  in  spite  of 
all  these  odoriferous  drugs,  as  Penicher  justly  re- 
marks, decomposition  must  soon  have  revealed  it- 
self, as  was  testified  by  the  body  of  Lazarus  when 
resuscitated. 

Neither  did  the  Persians,  probably,  propose  by 
embalming,  any  thing  beyond  a  very  limited  pre- 
servation ;  the  passage  which  we  cited  in  the  first 
chapter  is  in  proof  of  this.  Besides,  this  custom  with 
them  does  not  possess  a  general  character.  Cyrus, 
Kino-  of  Persia  ,said  to  his  children  :  "  when  I  have 
ceased  to  live,  place  my  body  neither  in  silver,  nor 
in  gold,  nor  in  any  other  coffin,  but  return  it  imme- 
diately to  the  earth,  for  how  can  it  be  more  happily 
and  more  desirably  disposed,  than  to  be  returned  to 
that  which  produces  and  which  nourishes  most  ex- 
cellent things?"  It  will  be  perceived,  that  Cyrus, 
in  forbidding  that  any  care  should  be  taken  with 
his  body,  does  not  allude  to  embalming,  which,  of 
all  other  means,  would  have  been  the  most  efficient 
in  preventing  its  elements  from  returning  to  the 
common  mother.  The  Greeks  and  the  Romans, 
among  whom  we  have  particularized  some  exam- 
ples of  embalming,  practised  it  in  a  coarse  and  im- 
perfect manner.  The  examination  of  their  method 
would  be  here  without  interest.  In  order  to  recover 
some  traces  of  this  art,  we   must  refer  to  De  Bils, 


92  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

Ruysch,  Swammerdam,  Clauderus,  &c.  They  only 
boast  of  their  astonishing  success,  without  giving  us 
the  means  of  studying  their  methods.  What  we  do 
know  of  them  suffices  only  to  make  us  doubt,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  perfection  of  their  processes.  De  Bils, 
of  whom  we  have  not  yet  spoken,  had  a  cabinet 
which  excited  the  admiration  of  visiters ;  he  never 
revealed  his  secret,  and  he  even  shed  an  odour  of 
aromatics  through  his  anatomical  rooms,  in  order  to 
deceive  observers.  Clauderus,  who  suspected  the 
deception,  applied  his  moistened  finger  to  one  of  the 
bodies,  and  carrying  it  to  his  lips  recognised  the 
taste  of  salts.  He  started  from  this  fact  to  attempt 
numerous  researches,  and  succeeded  in  forming  dif- 
ferent compounds,  of  which  the  preservative  powers 
are,  without  doubt,  exaggerated  ;  we  shall  give  the 
analysis  of  them  hereafter. 

De  Rasiere,  ecuyer,  sieur  Desenclosses,  published 
in  1727,  a  description  of  a  cabinet,  in  which  he  pre- 
served a  hundred  specimens ;  the  following  extract 
from  his  pamphlet  presents  several  descriptions  of 
subjects  skilfully  prepared ;  it  is  preceded  by  an 
engraving,  representing  the  cabinet,  of  which  he 
gives  the  description. 

Extract  from  the  description  of  the  cabinet  of  anatomy ,  of  M. 
De  Basiere,  ecuyer,  sieur  Desenclosses,  1727. 

This  cabinet  is  eighty  feet  long,  by  sixteen  wide, 
the  glass  windows  are  double,  and  exposed  to  the 
south,  with  a  good  ceiling  and  boarded,  which  ren- 
ders it  very  proper  for  the  preservation  of  the  cu- 
rious pieces  which  it  encloses,  and  which  are  more 
than  one  hundred  in  number,  differently  worked. 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  93. 

and  arranged  so  that  entire  men  are  placed  in  the 
inferior  departments,  and  the  infants  in  the  supe- 
rior ;  all  the  fleshy  pieces  are  enclosed  in  glass  cases, 
and  the  skeletons  in  niches  covered  by  a  curtain. 
The  whole  so  disposed,  that  the  skeletons  and  mus- 
cular pieces  are  arranged  alternatively.  We  see,  also, 
entire  carcases  of  men,  so  arranged,  that  the  head, 
which  is  placed  on  the  large  bones,  is  crowned  by 
the  vertebrse,  and  the  ribs   are  suspended  above. 
This  order,  added  to  the  quantity  of  paintings  and 
gildings  which  embellish  the  cases  and  cornices, 
produces  a  very  fine  effect.   The  side  which  looks  to 
the  south,  includes  a  great  number  of  bottles  of  all 
sizes,  and  contains  objects  taken  from  the  animal, 
vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms. 

The  middle  of  the  cabinet  is  occupied  by  numer- 
ous interesting  objects.  We  first  perceive  a  large 
glass  case,  which  includes  all  the  internal  parts  of 
man,  and  fetuses  of  all  ages,  and  a  microscope  to 
view  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  Then  appears  a 
horse's  skeleton,  mounted  by  a  skeleton  cavalier, 
holding  a  sword  in  his  hand ;  an  air  pump  ;  an 
anatomical  table,  upon  which  is  a  corpse,  and  an 
anatomist  in  wax,  standing  before  it,  dissecting. 

Among  the  pieces  of  the  cabinet  mentioned  by  M. 
De  Rasiere,  the  most  remarkable  are :  In  the  first 
glass  case,  the  preparation  of  Gotard's  skeleton,  in 
which  are  distinctly  displayed  the  four  hundred  and 
fifty-six  muscles.  Second  case :  partial  preparation 
of  the  eyes  and  the  tongue,  of  the  head,  of  the  body, 
of  the  arms  and  legs.  Third  case :  preparation  of 
the  muscles,  arteries,  veins,  and  nerves  of  the  right 
side,  and  the  skeleton  of  the  left  side.     The  fifth 


94  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

case  is  a  complete  preparation,  in  which  the  skin 
and  fat  has  only  been  removed,  and  all  the  parts  be- 
neath separated.  We  here  observe,  first,  the  as- 
cending aorta,  which  carries  the  blood  to  all  the  su- 
perior parts;  second,  the  carotid  arteries,  which  sup- 
ply the  head ;  third,  the  temporal  arteries ;  fourth, 
the  radial  arteries  (pulse ;)  tifth,  the  crural  arteries, 
and  an  infinity  of  others  even  to  the  most  delicate 
branches.  The  veins  are  filled  with  a  black  fluid. 
Sixth,  preparation  of  the  veins  of  the  arm.  Seventh, 
jugular  veins ;  eighth,  veins  of  the  foot ;  ninth,  vena 
cava  ascendens.  Eighth  case :  a  subject  resembling 
accurately  a  mummy  or  embalmed  body,  such  as 
are  brought  from  Egypt.  All  the  flesh  is  covered 
by  the  skin,  through  which  may  be  seen  the  veins 
and  arteries  filled  with  congealed  and  coloured  wax. 
The  hair  of  the  head,  the  beard,  and  all  the  hair  of 
the  body,  as  well  as  the  nails,  are  still  attached  to  it. 
The  eleventh  glass  case  encloses  the  body  of  Nicho- 
las Lefort,  aged  eighty-three  years,  a  native  of  Douai, 
in  Flanders  :  this  subject  is  peculiarly  tasteful,  every 
thing  being  naturally  arranged  ;  the  external  mus- 
cles are  divested  of  their  fat,  and  all  the  arteries, 
veins,  and  nerves,  which  ramify  upon  the  muscles, 
skin,  &c.,  have  been  preserved,  which  renders  this 
preparation  as  curious  as  it  was  difficult  of  execu- 
tion.    Twelfth  case :  preparation  of  the  nerves. 

But  the  author  is  silent  regarding  the  manner  of 
making  these  preparations.  Let  us  endeavour  to 
find  in  the  writings  of  the  time,  a  description  of  pro- 
cesses capable  of  producing  such  results. 

Penicher,  in  his  chapter  fifth,  (of  embalming  ac- 
cording to  the  moderns,)  gives  us  the  composition 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  95 

and  properties  of  balm.  "  It  is  composed,"  says  he, 
"  of  different  mixtures,  both  fluid  and  solid,  calcu- 
lated to  arrest  putrefaction,  either  by  the  aromatic 
virtues  of  sulphur  and  volatile  salts,  medicaments 
which  enter  into  its  composition,  or  by  a  strong 
bitter  principle  which  consists  in  very  penetrating 
particles,  the  property  of  which  is  to  consume  and 
attenuate  the  crude  matters,  which  disposes  and 
hastens  the  body  to  corruption ;  or  by  remedies,  in- 
heriting a  quantity  of  particles  which  dissipate  and 
absorb  all  putrescent  moisture,  or  by  their  viscosity 
agglutinating  the  parts  which  ferment  and  rarify 
too  readily ;  or,  finally,  by  their  astringency,  which, 
fixing  these  same  parts,  prevents  the  resolution  of 
all." 

It  is  easy  to  perceive,  by  the  explanations  which 
precede,  that  the  embalmers  themselves  possess  no 
very  clear  ideas  of  the  success  which  they  ob- 
tained. The  nomenclature  which  we  give  below, 
will  justify  the  doubt  we  have  expressed. 

The  powders,  which  constitute  the  base  of  the 
balm,  are  made  of  all  parts  of  the  plants  which  ful- 
fil the  indications  so  confusedly  announced.  Such 
were  the  roots  of  angelica,  imperatoria,  galanga, 
acorus,  Carolina,  caryophillata,  gentian,  enula  cam- 
pana,  valerian,  Florentine  iris,  Jlambe,  calamus  aro- 
maticus,  ginger,  'pyrethrum,  cyperus,  dictamus,  rose 
rvood,  sassafi-as,  giiiacum,  juniper,  box  wood,  citron 
hark,  oranges,  canella,  cassia  lignea,  tan,  yiutmeg, 
mace,  cloves,  cuhehs,  spichiard,  colocynth,  hay-berries, 
juniper-herries,  and  myrtle-berries,  gall-nuts,  cypress, 
anis-seed,  cumin-seed,  fennel-seed,  coriander-seed,  car 
damon-seed,  long,  7vhite,  and  black  pepper,  rue-leaves, 


96  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

thyme,  absynth,  savin,  horehound,  mugwort,  laurel, 
mint,  myrtle,  calomint,  halm,  halmgentle,  marjorum, 
rosemary,  sage,  summer  savory,  rvild-tkyme,  penny- 
royal, mountain-mint,  hyssop,  nepeta,  basilic,  scordium, 
fiowers  of  saffron,  roses,  pale  and  red,  stcechas,  cen- 
taury, melilot,  chamomile,  germander,  chamcepitys,  hy- 
pericum,  caraway-seed,  dill-seed,  lavender. 

Many  gums  and  resins  entered  into  the  composi- 
tion of  balm,  such  as  resin,  Burguiidy  pitch,  ship- 
pitch,  gum  elemi,  assafcLtida,  aloes,  myrrh,  galbanum, 
acacia,  tucamahaca,  benzoin,  styrax  calamite,  fluid 
styrax,  turpentine,  camphor,  cedria,  all  the  species  of 
balm ;  rvood  of  aloes,  tartar,  potash,  from  the  lees  of 
wine,  civet,  castor,  musk,  ambergris,  labdanum,  Jew^s 
pitch,  asphaltum,  pisasphaltum,  slacked-lime,  plaster, 
sulphur,  common  salt,  rock-salt,  saltpetre,  alum,  am- 
ber, 6fC. 

The  article  of  compound  drugs,  is  not  less  exten- 
sive, such  as  the  tincture  of  musk,  ambergris,  civet, 
benzoin,  styrax,  aloes,  myrrh.  The  distilled  oils  and 
essences  of  the  plants  which  we  have  named, — spi- 
rits of  wine,  distilled  myrrh,  aloes,  and  amber, — is 
excellent  for  the  preservation  of  the  fetus. 

The  salt  of  Clauderus  has  also  enjoyed  a  great  re- 
putation ;  the  following  is  its  composition  :  Dissolve 
one  pound  of  common  salt  with  a  pound  of  oil  of 
vitriol  in  a  crucible,  apply  a  cover  closely  luted,  and 
distil  it  gradually  in  a  sand  bath ;  you  may  pour  off 
a  spirit  very  excellent  for  a  lotion ;  in  the  bottom  of 
the  crucible  w^ill  remain  a  caput  mortuum,  which 
should  be  dissolved  according  to  art,  and  after  eva- 
poration, you  will  have  the  salt  so  much  esteemed  by 
the  author.     We  may  add  here  the  brine,  which  is 


DOWN   TO    OUR    DAY,  97 

described  in  the  collections  of  Charles  de  Maetz, 
(chap.  100,  et  194 ;  and  chap.  23  of  the  book  en- 
titled Chemia  Ratignalis,  and  also  in  the  work  of 
Blanchard,)  they  advise  that  after  a  corpse  has  been 
emptied  and  cleaned  of  its  excretions,  it  be  placed  in 
a  leaden  coffin,  and  there  macerated  in  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  pure  oil  of  turpentine,  and  after  some 
days  of  maceration,  to  wash  it  with  spirits  of  wine 
to  remove  the  odour,  then  sprinkle  it  with  a  strong 
tincture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  which  they  call  bal- 
samum  mortuorum,  and  that  it  be  finally  dried  in  the 
sun. 

I  shall  not  now  enter  into  the  endless  discussions 
upon  the  different  species  of  salts,  which  some  boast 
of  for  embalming,  whilst  others  consider  them  inju- 
rious to  the  preservation  of  bodies.  I  abstain  also, 
from  speaking  of  lime,  to  which,  however,  wonders 
have  been  attributed  :  thus  it  was  lime  which  pre- 
served the  body  of  Afra :  and  in  the  year  1523, 
under  the  pontificat  of  Adrian  VI.,  the  body  of  Saint 
Thomas,  the  Apostle,  was  likewise  found  towards 
the  Gulf  of  Coromandel,  endued,  and  covered  with 
a  cement  made  of  lime  and  urine  ;  the  bones  were 
very  white,  and  along  side  of  him  the  spear  of  his 
lance,  a  part  of  the  cane  which  had  served  him  dur- 
ing his  journey,  and  an  earthen  vase  which  had  been 
sprinkled  with  his  blood.  Notwithstanding  these  re- 
markable examples,  if  they  are  true,  the  authors  who 
relate  them  give  no  importance  to  the  processes  to 
which  we  owe  them,  they  even  complain  of  the  sor- 
did views  of  those,  who,  in  order  to  augment  the 
mass  of  matters,  do  not  hesitate  to  mix  thereto  plas- 

13 


89  EMBALMING,  FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

ter,  ashes,  &c.  We  give  the  description  of  some  of 
these  mixtures  composed  of  the  substances  which 
we  have  enumerated. 

1. — Balsamic  Wine. 
p.  Good  red  wine,  8  pints. 

Cloves,  roses,  citron  bark,  colocynth,  a.a.*   2  g. 
Sty  rax,  benzoin,  a.a.  1  §. 

Reduce  these  drugs  to  a  coarse  powder,  macerate 
for  a  few  hours  in  wine,  and  boil  slightly. 

Usages. — Lotion  for  the  interior  parts  of  the  body  ; 
and  to  disinfect  the  chamber  during  the  operation. 

2. — Compound  Brandy. 

p.  Absynth  leaves,  great  centaury,  rhue,  sage,  mar- 
jory,  mugwort,  thyme,  a.a.  4  handsfuU. 

Colocynth,  2  §. 

Styrax,  calamite,  benzoin,  a.a.  3  §. 

Pepper,  ginger,  a.a.  2  3. 

Macerate  in  a  sea-bath  for  twenty-four  hours,  in  fif- 
teen pints  of  best  brandy,  with  as  much  distilled 
vinegar. 

3. —  Vinegar  f 07-  waslmig  the  head,  the  breast, 
the  helly,  and  for  injections. 

jt.  "White  and  black  pepper,  ginger,  a.a.       h  lb. 

Colocynth,  3  §. 

Absynth,  centaury,  hypericum,  a.a.  4  g. 

Reduce  to  a  coarse  powder,  and  macerate  in  forty 
pints  of  rose-vinegar ;  then  strain  for  use. 

♦  a,a.  of  each. 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  99 

4. — Another. 

3,'.  Absynth,  five  or  six  handsfuU. 

Colocynth  apples,  30. 

Alum,  common  salt,  a.a.  1  lb- 

Concentrated  vinegar,  14^/5. 

Let  it  boil  a  little,  and  add  two  pints  of  brandy ; 
better  than  the  preceding. 

The  embalmer  ought  to  have  several  large  sponges; 
about  four  pounds  of  tow  to  dry  the  blood  and  ab- 
sorb the  powders ;  cotton  for  the  mouth,  nose,  and 
ears ;  coarse  brush  for  rubbing  the  exterior  of  the 
body  with  the  liniment.  The  artist  should  have, 
besides,  two  ells  of  cere-cloth,  which  he  can  prepare 
for  himself  after  one  of  the  following  formulse  : 

1. — Cere-cloth. 

^.  New  wax,  12  ft. 

Fluid  styrax,  oil  of  turpentine,  a.a.    1  ft. 
Melt  and  mix  them  over  a  slow  fire,  then  draw  the 
linen  through  it  frequently  so  as  to  impregnate  both 
sides. 

2. — Another. 

p.  Yellow  wax,  25  ft. 

Turpentine,  colophane,*  resin,  a.a.  3  ft. 

Ship-pitch,  2|  ft. 

Verdegris,  1  lb. 

Incense,  fluid  styrax,  a.a.  2  ft. 

Oil  of  spike,  U  lb- 

Melt,  and  mix  the  whole  with  two  pounds  of  mut- 
ton suet,  and  plunge  the  linen  in  it  as  before. 

*  Colophane,  a  species  of  resin,  used  by  violinists  to  rub  their  cat-gnt 
strings.  —  Tr. 


4 

ft. 

8 

ft. 

5 

n- 

3 

ft. 

15 

ft. 

100  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

3. — Another. 
J8).  New  wax, 

Resin  of  pine,  turpentine,  a. a. 
Gum  Arabic, 
Melt,  and  soak  as  before. 

4. — Another. 
1^.  Turpentine, 
Wax, 

Mix  it  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  oil  to  make  a 
cerate. 

1 . — Mixture  for  soaking  the  linens,  the  chemise, 

the  coiffure,  and  the  bandages. 
jt.  New  wax,  20  ft. 

Venice  turpentine,  gum  elemi,  a.a.   2  ib. 
Powdered  florence  iris,  4  ft. 

Styrax,  calamite,  benzoin,  a.a.  6  §. 

Myrrh,  aloes,  a.a.  3  §, 

Balsam  of  Peru,  oil  of  absynth,  g.  s. 

Melt  the  wax  and  the  gum,  add  the  balsam,  and 
then  the  powdered  aromatics  for  use. 

2. — Another. 

it    New  wax,  12  it. 

Common  resin,  2  ft. 

Venice  turpentine,  1  ft. 

Gum  elemi,  4  g. 

3. — Another. 
Jfc.  White  wax,  6  ft. 

Oil  of  nutmegs,  distilled  oil  of  lavender, 
citron  bark,  oranges,  a.a.  2  g. 

The  following  are  some  formulae  of  liniment,  or 
fluid  balsam,  proper  to  rub  the  corpse  both  inter- 
nally and  externally. 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  101 

1. — Liniment. 

Dissolve  two  ounces  of  true  balsam  into  two  pints 
of  spirit  of  wine. 

2. — Another  Liniment. 

it.  Turpentine,  oil  of  spike,  a.a. 
Gum  elemi,  fluid  styrax,  a.a. 
Oil  of  laurel, 

3. — Another. 
Jl.  Fluid  styrax, 
Balsam  of  Peru, 
Oil  of  mace, 
Rosewood, 

4. — Another  Liniment. 
Jfe.  Oil  of  rosemary,  rosewood,  a.a. 
Cloves, 
Absynth,  origan,  a.a. 

5. — Another. 

9;.  Venice  turpentine,  3  j^. 

Gum  elemi,  4  -g. 

Oil  of  hypericum,  §  ib. 

Balsam  of  Peru,  (f  S.  A.)  2  5. 

6. — Afiother. 

Jt.  Venice  turpentine,  6  3. 

Gum  elemi,  3  g. 

Fluid  styrax,  2  5. 

Calamite,  benzoin,  a.a.  1  §. 

Oil  of  spike,  Muscat  roses,  nutmeg, 

distilled  cloves,  a.a.  §  3. 

Musk,  i  5. 

Civet,  1  3. 


2 

ib. 

4 

3- 

3 

tb. 

6 

5- 

2 

s- 

1 
■2 

5- 

1 

5- 

3 

5- 

U 

5- 

1 

§• 

102  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS. 

The  embalmer  ought  to  furnish  himself  with  silk 
ribands,  of  a  black,  violet,  or  white  colour,  accord- 
ing to  the  subject  which  he  has  to  embalm,  in  order 
to  tie  the  sheet  by  the  two  extremities,  as  well  as  a 
quarter  of  taffeta  of  one  of  the  said  colours  to  en- 
velope the  box  containing  the  heart ;  further,  five 
fathoms  of  cord  to  tie  the  corpse  enveloped  in  cere- 
cloth. A  coffin  of  lead  in  a  coffin  of  wood.  A  barrel 
for  the  intestines.  Bandages  soaked  in  the  liniment 
to  bandage  the  body. 

The  following  powder,  as  well  as  those  which 
come  after,  are  models  which  will  serve  according 
to  the  prudence  of  the  embalmer  for  the  cavities, 
for  the  parts  sacrificed,  and  to  form  a  crust  around 
the  body,  or  to  be  mixed  with  the  adhesive  plaster. 

1. — Balsamic  Pofvder. 
Jt,  Angelica  root,  calamus,  Florentine  iris, 
flag,  imperatoria,  Carolina,  cypress,  gin- 
ger, enula-campana,  aristolochia,  genti- 
ana,  Valeriana,  rosewood,  spicknard,  colo- 
cynth,  a.a.  i  ft. 

Anis-seed,  fennel,  cumin,  coriander,  pep- 
per, (white,  black,  and  long,)  cardomine, 
cypress,  gall-nuts,  citron-bark,  oranges, 
juniper-wood,  laurel,  chamomile  flowers, 
melilot,  centaury,  lavender,  roses,  a.a.    1  ft. 

Rhue  leaves,  absynth,  mint,  calamint, 
savin,  thyme,  marjory,balm,balmgentle, 
rosemary,  sage,  horehound,  pennyroyal, 
origan,  hyssop,  laurel,  myrtle,  a.a.  2  ft. 

Tan  passed  through  a  seive,  4  ft. 

Canella,  styrax,  nutmeg,  aloes,  myrrh, 
benzoin,  cloves,  dittany,  a.a.  4  g. 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  103 

Reduce  to  a  powder  those  which  ought  to  be  pow- 
dered, and  then  strain  them  through  a  seive ;  but 
for  the  canella,  and  others  of  that  class,  they  must 
be  beaten  and  employed  separately. 

Baltazar  Timaeus  added  salt  and  incense  to  his 
powder. 

2. — Another  Powder. 

p.  Select  myrrh,  4  tb 
Bastard  saffron,  styrax,  calamite,  cloves,  a.a.  2  ib 

Cabalin  aloes,  5  ib 

Dried  rosemary  leaves,  2  ft, 

Incense,  1  lb 

Laurel  leaves,  red  roses,  a.a.  5  ib 

3. — Another. 

{t.  Common  absynth,  southern  wood,  lavender, 

rosemary,  laurel,  a.a.  6  handsful. 

Sage,  marjory,  basalic,  origan,  thyme,  great 

savory,  hyssop,  chamomile,  a.a.      3  handsful. 
Flor.  iris-root, 
Santal  citron,  aloes-wood, 
Canella,  cloves,  juniperberry  sassafras,  a.a. 
Flower  of  roses,  aloes,  myrrh,  incense,  sty- 
rax, benzoin,  a.a. 
Rosewood, 
Salt, 

Make  a  powder,  and  reserve  the  oil  of  spike  for  the 
unction. 

4. — Another  Powder. 

Two  measures  of  best  spirits  of  wine  to  anoint 
and  bathe  all  the  cavities ;  after  which,  rub  all  the 


4ib. 

^  ib. 

1  ib. 

2  ib. 

3  th. 

4tb. 

104     EMBALMING,  FROM  THE  EGYPTIANS 

parts  with  turpentine,  then  stuff  them  with  the  fol- 
lowing powder : 

p.  Rosemary,  laurel,  hyssop,  absynth,  mint, 
rhue,  sage,  wild  thyme,  pennyroyal,  ori- 
gan, scordium,  flowers  of  rosemary,  roses, 
lavender,  chamomile,  stoechas,  spicknard, 
a.a.  2  handsful. 

Carraway  and  fennel  seed,  a.a.  \  lb- 

Gentain  root,  angelica,  cloves,  valerian, a.6*.  1  tb. 
Reduce  to  powder  and  add  : 

Aloes,  mastic,  incense,  a.a.  2  j^. 

Myrrh,  h  tb. 

Benzoin,  styrax,  labdanum,  canella,  cloves, 

nutmeg,  mace,  saffron,  a.a.  1  §. 

Mummy,  2^  §. 

Reduce  to  powder  in  a  mortar. 

5. — Another  Powder. 
P'.  Absynth,    lavender,  marjory,    rosemary, 
thyme,  balmgentle,  cypress,  mint,  sage, 
balm,  dill,  origan,  pennyroyal,  red  roses, 
a.a.  8  I. 

Calamus,  cyperus,   gentian,  Flor.   iris, 
rosewood,  a.a.  5   |. 

Benzoin,  styrax,  aloes,  myrrh,  a.a.  6  g. 

Nutmeg,  cloves,  a.a.  4  g. 

Reduce  to  a  fine  powder. 

Powder  and  Mixture. 

Take  a  sufficient  quantity  of  salt,  and  as  much 
alum,  to  be  mixed  with  myrrh,  aloes,  absynth,  ca- 
nella, cumin,  cloves,  mountain  mint,  pepper,  and 
other  aromatics;  reduce  to  powder,  sprinkling  it 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  105 

with  a  little  vinegar ;  then  fill  the  body  with  it,  rub- 
bing with  melted  wax ;  then  place  the  corpse  in  a 
leaden  coffin.     [Formula  of  P.  Bellon.) 

Penicher,  who  has  furnished  these  different  for- 
mulae, will  trace  in  the  following  pages  the  means 
of  applying  them. 

There  are  many  methods  of  embalming.  The 
first,  which  is  derived  from  the  sacred  scriptures, 
did  not  prevent  the  body  from  soon  undergoing  a 
change,  since  they  neglected  to  remove  the  viscera, 
which  cause  corruption. 

The  second  is  that  in  which  they  confined  their 
operations  to  emptying  and  cleaning  the  cavities 
which  contain  the  intestines,  the  brain,  and  other 
noble  parts,  filling  them  after w^ards  with  powdered 
aromatics,  with  tow^  and  cotton. 

The  most  common,  and  the  most  perfect  which 
was  practised,  is  the  third ;  which  consists  in  mak- 
ing incisions  in  all  parts  of  the  body,  as  we  shall 
treat  of  further  in  the  sequel. 

We  may  add  here  a  fourth  mode,  which  regards 
only  thin  and  fleshless  bodies  ;  it  requires  that  the 
fat  and  flesh  be  removed,  so  that  the  skin  and  bones 
only  remain.  This  method  was  not  unknown  to 
the  Egyptians ;  and  I  have  several  times  practised 
it,  but  the  operation  is  laborious,  and  requires  a  skil- 
ful surgeon. 

And  finally,  there  is  a  last  method  of  embalming 
the  body,  which  is  performed  by  making  small  open- 
ings in  several  parts  of  the  body,  under  the  armpits, 
the  groins,  and  the  anus,  according  to  the  ancient 
usage  of  the  Egyptians.  In  order  to  commence  this 
important  operation,  it  is  necessary,  in  the  first  place, 

14 


106  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

that  the  surgeon  who  has  the  honour  to  be  employed 
to  embalm  a  king  or  some  sovereign  prince,  under 
the  orders  of  his  first  physician,  in  the  presence  of 
the  crown  officers,  makes  with  a  bistoury  several 
gashes  in  the  soles  of  the  feet,  in  order  to  prove,  by 
this  operation,  that  the  subject  whose  body  he  is 
about  to  open  is  really  dead ;  which  is  a  much  more 
certain  method  than  the  unctions  formerly  used  in 
similar  cases,  to  recall  the  animal  spirits,  which  they 
suspected  of  being  only  stupified.     He  will  after- 
wards make  a  long  incision,  from  the  superior  part 
of  the  sternum,  to  facilitate  the  examination  of  the 
contents  of  the  chest,  and  to  investigate  the  cause  of 
disease  and  death,  in  order  that  a  faithful  written 
report  may  be  made  in  concert  with  the  physicians 
and  surgeons  of  the  king.     All  the  parts  contained 
in  this  cavity  must  be  removed ;  he  will  afterwards 
descend  to  the  lower  belly  and  examine  all  their 
contents,  which  he  will  remove  for  that  purpose, 
taking  away  every  thing  disposed   to   corruption. 
The  parts  which  ought  to  be  removed,  are,  among 
others,  the  throat,  comprehending  the  trachea  and 
oesophagus,  the  tongue,  the  eyes,  the  lungs,   the 
heart,  which  wiU  be  divested  of  its  pericardium,  to  be 
embalmed  separately,  as  in  ordinary  cases ;  the  sto- 
mach, the  liver,  the  spleen,  the  kidneys,  the  intes- 
tines, the  brain,  the  membranes,  the  fat,  the  blood, 
the  serum,  the  sponges,  and  other  matters  which 
have  served   during  the  operation;  put   all  these 
things  in  a  barrel,  to  be  carried  to  the  place  of  desti- 
nation.    I  know  that  some  authors  recommend  the 
extirpation  of  the  sexual  organs  of  both  sexes  ;  but, 
besides  that  this  would  be  to  disfigure  the  body  of 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  701 

a  man,  these  parts  may  be  preserved  as  well  as 
others,  and  we  owe  respect  to  the  instruments  which 
have  given  us  being.    The  surgeon  having  emptied 
these  cavities,  ought  to  work  at  the  head,  of  which 
he  will  saw  the  cranium  in  the  same  manner  as  for 
anatomical  demonstrations  ;  and  after  he  shall  have 
examined  and  taken  out  the  brain,  the  apothecary- 
must  carefully  wash  the  cavity  with  aromatic  wine 
and  alcohol,  and  then  fill  it  with  the  powder  he  will 
have  prepared,  and  with  cotton  and  tow  soaked  in 
some  fluid  balsam,  in  such  a  manner  that  there  will 
be  several  layers  of  these  stoupes  and  powder  ap- 
plied one  above  the  other ;  after  which  replace  the 
bones  of  the  cranium  and  sew  up  the  skin.  He  will 
then  rub  the  head  all  over  with  one  of  the  liquid 
balms,  and  bathe  the  face  frequently  with  the  same  ; 
envelope  the  head  in   a  deep  cap,  which  must  be 
waxed ;  and  after  having  insinuated  into  the  nose, 
the  mouth,  the  orbits  of  the  eyes,  and  into  the  ears, 
cotton,  soaked  in  liquid  balm,  the  oils  of  nutmeg 
and  cloves,  he  will  labour  at  the  abdomen,  which 
must  be  washed  in  the  same  aromatic  wine  and  al- 
cohol, and  rubbed  with  some  of  the  aforesaid  balms, 
and,  finally,  stuffed  abundantly  with  powder  and 
tow,  until  all  these  matters,  distributed  one  above  the 
other,  will  form  the  natural  size  and  appearance  of 
the  abdomen,  which  must  be  sown  up.     The  sur- 
geon will  take  care  that  sections  be  made  in  the 
veins  and  arteries,  in  order  to  divest  them  of  blood 
and  humidity,  which  will  be  observed  regarding  the 
arms,  thighs,  legs,  feet,  heels,  and  other  parts,  as 
the  back,  shoulders,  and  buttocks,  turning  the  corpse 
for  this  purpose,  face  towards  the  table;  in  these 


108  EiMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

thick  and  fleshy  places,  the  incisions  must  he  long, 
deep,  and  numerous,  penetrating  even  to  the  bone; 
and  when  the  large  vessels  have  been  opened  and 
purged  of  their  blood,  the  pharmacien  will  fill  all 
these  spaces  with  the  powder,  and  then  sew  them 
up  with  a  needle  and  thread,  after  having  sprinkled 
and  bathed  them  in  aromatic  wine  and  alcohol ;  for 
it  is  necessary  to  take  care  and  foment  incessantly 
these  parts ;  absorb  from  them,  if  possible,  all  hu- 
midity, and  dry  them  with  a  sponge,  previous  to 
rubbing  them  with  liquid  balm,  or  one  of  the  lini- 
ments, and  fill  them  with  the  stoupes  and  said  pow- 
ders. Finally,  the  whole  must  be  sowed  up  very 
neatly,  so  that  the  body  may  not  be  disfigured ;  for 
the  same  reason  the  face  ought  not  to  be  incised, 
and  we  ought  to  endeavour  so  to  preserve  the  fea- 
tures that  they  may  be  easily  recognised,  as  I  have 
recently  witnessed  on  the  opening  of  the  cofiin  of  a 
bishop,  who  was  embalmed  more  than  fifty  years 
ago,  and  whose  countenance  was  not  in  the  least  dis- 
figured. For  this  reason,  the  artist  will  make  use 
of  fine  powders,  of  aloes,  myrrh,  and  others;  as  re- 
gards the  body,  he  will  rub  and  anoint  it  with  the 
liniment  which  he  will  have  prepared,  adding  there- 
to the  powder,  which  he  will  make  into  a  paste. 
And  it  is  necessary  to  remark,  that  in  proportion  as 
he  finishes  the  embalming  of  each  part,  the  surgeon 
ouirht  to  bandagre  it  with  bandages  of  linen  soaked 
in  the  liniment,  so  that  they  will  resemble  a  species 
of  corset,  and  in  form  of  the  letter  x  ;  let  them  make 
several  convolutions  one  upon  the  other,  to  keep  the 
parts  of  the  body  compact,  and  prevent  the  aro- 
matics  escaping  from  the  cavities  filled  with  them ; 


DOAVN    TO    OUR    DAY.  109 

these  bandages  should  commence  with  the  neck  and 
finish  with  the  feet  and  hands ;  they  must  be  long 
and  broad  for  the  body,  thighs,  legs,  and  arms,  but 
narrow  and  short  for  the  fingers.  This  done,  put  on 
the  chemise,  washed  as  already  recommended ;  or- 
nament the  subject  with  the  exterior  marks  of  dig- 
nity which  were  possessed  during  life  time,  and 
wrap  it  in  a  linen  cloth  soaked  in  liniment,  which 
will  serve  as  an  adhesive  plaster,  which  must  be 
tied  by  the  two  extremities  with  a  riband  ;  above 
which,  envelope  it  with  the  cere-cloth,  which  should 
be  very  closely  bound  with  a  cord.  Finally,  de- 
posit the  body  in  the  coffin,  the  intervals  of  which 
must  be  filled  with  what  remains  of  the  powder,  if 
there  be  any,  or  with  parcels  of  dried  aromatic  herbs; 
close  it  and  solder  it  with  the  utmost  exactitude. 
Place  on  the  outside  a  plate  of  copper,  or  some  other 
durable  metal,  upon  which  has  been  engraved  some 
appropriate  inscription,  to  serve  as  a  memento  to 
posterity.  The  coffin  must  be  placed  in  another  of 
wood,  which  may  be  covered,  if  desirable,  with  a 
mortuary  cloth. 

This  work  being  accomplished,  we  next  come  to 
the  heart,  which,  as  I  have  already  stated,  is  sepa- 
rately embalmed.  Supposing,  then,  that  it  has  been 
removed  from  its  place,  divested  of  its  pericardium, 
and  both  its  ventricles  opened,  frequently  washed 
with  spirits  of  wine,  and  well  cleaned  of  clotted 
blood,  and  of  all  other  impurities  that  may  be  at- 
tached to  it,  and  having  allowed  it  to  soak  during 
the  preceding  operations  in  spirits  of  wine,  or  in  dis- 
tilled oil  of  turpentine,  the  apothecary  now  takes 
this  viscera  thus  prepared  ;  he  fills  the  ventricles 


no  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

with  powdered  aloes,  myrrh,  benzoin,  and  styrax  ; 
he  may  even  rub  it  with  oil,  or  essence  of  nutmeg, 
cloves,  and  canella,  as  also  with  the  tinctures  of  am- 
bergris, musk,  and  civet ;  he  will  then  arrange  it  in 
perfumed  cotton,  so  as  to  make  it  contain  the  pow- 
ders, which,  with  the  oils,  will  form  a  paste,  and  he 
will  place  it  in  a  little  sack  of  cere-cloth,  perfumed 
with  some  of  the  above  named  essences,  with  which 
also  he  will  rub  the  box  in  which  it  is  to  be  enclosed, 
both  internally  and  externally,  solder  it  carefully 
and  envelope  it  in  taffeta  of  a  certain  colour,  which 
must  be  equally  soaked  and  rubbed  with  essences 
or  tinctures,  and  tied  with  ribands  of  the  same  co- 
lour ;  the  violet  colour  is  the  most  appropriate  for 
ecclesiastics. 

I  remember  having  embalmed  the  heart  of  an 
Abbe  of  quality  who  had  led  an  exemplary  life  :  the 
odour  which  it  exhaled  was  so  sweet  and  agreeable, 
that  it  perfumed  for  several  months  the  choir  of  the 
convent  des  Dames  Religieuses,  where  it  was  deposited. 

The  body  and  the  heart  being  thus  embalmed,  it 
only  remains  to  speak  of  the  viscera,  the  lungs,  and 
the  brain,  &c. 

Blancardus  teaches  us  the  method  of  embalming 
separately  all  these  parts ;  but,  for  myself,  I  do  not 
attempt  it ;  when  they  are  embalmed,  and  it  is  de- 
sired to  place  them  in  a  barrel  in  this  state,  it  is  still 
requisite  to  have  recourse  to  spirits  of  wine,  of  the 
best  quality ;  our  brandy  and  aromatic  wines  are 
not  strong  enough.  In  order  the  more  easily  to  clean 
these  viscera,  they  must  be  opened  lengthwise,  in- 
cisions must  be  made  in  the  lungs,  the  spleen,  the 
uterus,  and  the  other  contents  of  the  cavities;  cleaned 


DOWN   TO    OUR    DAY.  Ill 

of  blood,  serosity,  and  other  foreign  matter,  which 
would  cause  them  to  putrefy  in  a  little  time ;  then 
washed  with  strong  spirits  of  wine,  having  been 
previously  washed  in  other  liquors,  and  then  ar- 
ranged in  a  barrel,  so  that  the  powder  first  covers 
the  bottom,  placing  a  portion  of  the  viscera  on  this 
first  layer,  and  afterwards  a  second  bed  of  pow- 
der ;  and  continue  thus  to  place  the  viscera  and  the 
powders  alternatively,  and  by  layers,  until  the 
barrel  be  nearly  full,  taking  care  that  the  last  layer 
consists  of  this  prepared  powder,  which  must  not  be 
spared  on  this  occasion.  This  barrel,  which  ought 
to  be  made  of  lead,  should  be  placed  in  a  second  of 
wood,  which  must  be  accurately  headed  and  pitched. 
(One  wooden  barrel  only,  was  used  for  Henry  III., 
King  of  France.) 

Nevertheless,  with  all  the  precautions  that  could 
be  taken  to  preserve  these  parts,  in  employing  quan- 
tities of  spirits  of  wine,  aromatic  powders,  and  other 
proper  drugs,  I  have  strong  doubts  that  they  would 
soon  corrupt,  and  even  before  they  could  arrive  at 
the  place  destined  for  their  sepulture.  Finally, 
when  the  body  is  to  be  publicly  expose^  on  the  bed 
where  it  died,  the  face  should  be  washed  with  spi- 
rits of  wine,  and  with  true  balm,  refreshing  it  fre- 
quently ;  but  when  it  is  necessary  to  expose  it  on  a 
bed  of  parade  to  remain  several  days,  it  is  commonly 
sufficient  to  mould  it  in  wax,  and  to  show  only  its 
external  figure,  during  the  time  that  the  body  is 
upon  the  bed  embalmed  in  a  coffin.  But,  when 
the  body  itself  of  the  deceased  is  exposed,  it  is  ne- 
cessary, in  the  first  place,  to  paint  and  powder  the 
hair  or  wig  with  a  fine  powder  of  pleasant  odour  ; 


112  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

shave  the  beard,  if  there  be  any,  fill  the  mouth  with 
powder  and  cotton,  to  elevate  and  protrude  the 
cheeks,  to  which  may  be  applied  a  little  rouge,  as 
well  as  to  the  lips ;  if  the  natural  eyes  have  been 
removed,  replace  them  with  artificial  eyes ;  force  per- 
fumed cotton  up  the  nostrils;  the  ^ose  may  be  re- 
freshed with  a  linen  cloth  liberally  endued  with  true 
balm,  during  the  time  that  the  subject  is  withdrawn 
from  public  view ;  thus,  the  mouth,  and  generally 
all  the  parts  that  ought  to  be  seen,  will  be  in  their 
natural  state,  to  the  end  that  they  may  be  the  more 
readily  recognised.  For  this  reason,  there  ought  not 
to  be  made  any  scarifications,  as  it  is  expressly  re- 
marked in  the  library  of  Herodotus.  "  Each  part," 
says  he,  "  is  so  perfectly  preserved,  that  the  hair  of 
the  eyebrows  and  eyelids,  and  even  all  the  form  of 
the  body  so  well  retain  their  appearance,  that,  the 
figure  and  natural  disposition  is  known  with  fa- 
cility." 

But,  for  all  other  subjects,  those  which  are  to  be 
transported,  you  will  deviate  as  little  as  possible 
from  the  following  prescriptions.  After  having 
emptied  th^j  cranium  by  means  of  a  large  trepan 
opening  made  in  the  back  part  of  the  head ;  having 
removed  the  viscera,  the  throat,  the  membranes ; 
scarified  the  fleshy  parts,  and  having  purged  them 
of  blood  and  other  serosities,  the  corpse  should  be 
placed  in  one  of  the  lotions,  or  in  one  of  the  brines 
described  in  chapter  fifth,  the  materials  of  which  are 
to  be  chosen  according  to  the  place  and  season  of 
the  year ;  and,  after  some  days  of  maceration,  the 
subject  being  well  drained,  insinuate  into  the  cavity 


DOWN    TO    OUR    D\Y.  113 

of  the  cranium  new  melted  wax;  after  which,  re- 
place the  piece  of  cranium  removed  by  the  trephine ; 
sew  up  the  skin,  and  fill  like-wise  the  chest  and  ab- 
domen with  melted  wax,  and  sew  them  up ;  after- 
wards fill  the  scarifications  with  such  powders,  aro- 
matics,  or  herb^  as  the  country  affords  ;  bandage 
the  body  accurately  with  linen  bandages,  endued 
with  one  of  the  above  mentioned  liniments,  or,  in 
the  absence  of  these,  with  turpentine,  or  with  the  tinc- 
ture of  myrrh  and  aloes,  rubbing  them  on  the  body 
vrith  coarse  brushes ;  afterwards  place  the  body  (as 
was  done  with  the  bodies  of  Alexander  and  Agesi- 
laus,)  in  a  coflan  filled  with  good  honey,  so  that  it 
may  be  surrounded  on  all  sides,  and  penetrated 
within  and  without ;  and  after  having  placed  this 
well  soldered  coffin  in  another  of  wood,  which  must 
be  well  pitched,  transport  it  to  its  place  of  destina- 
tion. There  it  must  be  washed  with  spirits  of  wine 
before  being  exposed  to  the  public. 

A  fairer  specimen  of  embalming  could  not  be 
chosen,  than  that  which  was  made  of  Madame  la 
Dauphine,  by  M.  Riqueur,  apothecary  to  the  king 
and  to  this  princess,  assisted  by  his  oldest  son,  apo- 
thecary to  the  king  in  survivorship.  This  embalming 
was  executed  with  all  the  disinterestedness,  ability, 
and  prudence  that  could  be  desired,  in  the  presence 
of  M.  D'Aquin,  then  first  physician  to  the  king;  of 
M.  Fagon,  first  physician  to  the  late  queen,  and 
now  first  physician  to  the  king;  of  M.  Petit,  first 
physician  to  Mon seigneur  le  Dauphine;  and  M. 
Moreau,  first  physician  to  the  late  Madame  la  Dau- 
phine; of  M.  Felix,  first  surgeon  to  the  king  ;  of  M. 

15 


114  EMBALMING,    FROM    THE    EGYPTIANS 

Clemint,  master  surgeon  of  Paris,  and  accoucheur 
of  the  said  princess.  M.  Dionis,  his  first  surgeon, 
operated,  assisted  by  Bailiet,  ordinary  surgeon,  and 
by  another  ordinary  surgeon :  Madam,  theDutchesse 
d'Arpajon,  lady  of  honour ;  Madame  la  Marechall 
de  Rochefort,  lady  of  the  bed-ch^ber  ;  and  many 
other  ladies.  M.  Riqueur  had  the  kindness,  know- 
ing that  I  was  interested  in  such  operations,  to  com- 
municate his  method  to  me. 

Description  of  the  halm  which  was  made  for 
Madame  la  Dauphine. 

Jfe.  Florence  iris  root,  3  ib . 

Rush,  U  ft. 
Bohemian  angelica  root,  ginger,  aromatic 

calamus,  aristolochia,  a. a.  1  ft. 

Imperatoria,  gentian,  valerian,  a. a.  h  ft- 

Balmgentle  leaves,  basilic,  a.a.  H  ft. 

Savory,  sage,  thyme,  a.a.  1  ft. 

Hyssop,   laurel,  myrrh,    marjory,  origan, 

rhue,  a.a.  ^  ft. 
Southern  wood,  absynth,  mint,  calamint, 

wild  thyme,  odoriferous  rush,  scordium,^. a  4  §. 

Orange  flowers,  1^  ft. 

Lavender,  4  §. 

Rosemary,  1  ft. 

Coriander  seed,  25  ft. 

Cardamum  seed,  1  ft. 

Cumin,  carraway,  a.a.  4  g. 

Fruit,  and  seeds  of  the  juniper,  1  ft. 

Cloves,  Is  ft. 

Nutmeg,  1  ft- 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  115 

White  pepper,  "*  ^■ 

Dried  oranges,  ^  ib 

Cedar  wood,  ^  ^ 

Santal  citron,  roses,  a.a.  2  ft.  • 

Citron  and  orange  peal,  canella,  a.a.  ^  ib- 

Sty  rax,  calaiUlte,  benzoin,  olibanum,  a.a.    1^  ft. 
Myrrh,  2i  ft. 

Sandarac,  5  ft- 

Aloes,  '  4  Ifc- 

Spirits  of  wine,  ^  ft- 

Salt,  ^  I- 

Venice  turpentine,  3  ft. 

Fluid  styrax,  ~  lb- 

Balsam  of  copaiba,  k  ib. 

Balsam  of  Peru,  ^  S- 

Cere-cloth. 

The  heart,  after  having   been  emptied,  washed 
with  spirits  of  wine  and  dried,  was  placed  in  a  glass 
vessel  with  this  liquor ;  and  this  same  organ,  having 
been  filled  with  a  balm  made  of  canella,  cloves, 
myrrh,  styrax,  and  benzoin,  was  put  into  a  sack  of 
cere-cloth  of  its  own  shape,  which  was  again  en- 
closed in  a  box  of  lead,  cordiform,  which  was  im- 
mediately soldered,  to  be  presented  to  Madame  la 
Duchesse  d'Arpajon,  who  placed  it  in  the  hands  of 
Monseigneur,  the  Bishop  of  Meaux,  first  almoner  of 
the  late  Madame  la  Duchesse,  who  deposited  it  subse- 
quently in  the  Val-de-Grace.     The  opening  of  the 
body  was  made  most  accurately  by  M.  Dionis,  her 
first  surgeon.  M.  Riqueur  filled  all  the  cavities  with 
stoupes  and  powdered  balm.     Incisions  were  made 
alono-  the  arms  as  far  do\\ni   as  the   hands;  these 


116     EMBALMING,  FROM  THE  EGYPTIANS 

were  supplied  with  aromatic  powder,  after  express- 
ing all  the  blood  and  washing  with  spirits  of  wine ; 
the  same  operation  was  repeated  on  the  thighs, 
which  were  incised  in  different  places  down  to  the 
feet,  and  all  was  neatly  sewed  up.  A  coarse  brush 
was  used  to  rub  the  body  with  a'%ot  liquid  balm, 
made  of  turpentine,  styrax,  and  the  balsams  of  co- 
paiba and  Peru,  as  already  prescribed.  Each  part 
was  enveloped  in  bandages  soaked  in  spirits  of  wine, 
placing  as  much  as  possible  of  the  said  aromatic 
powder  between  the  body  and  the  bandages.  The 
body  was  dressed  in  a  chemise  and  a  religious  tu- 
nic, and  surrounded  with  other  marks  of  a  particu- 
lar devotion,  such  as  a  little  chain  of  iron,  at  the 
end  of  which  was  a  cross,  which  the  princess  kept 
in  a  trunk  which  she  had  brought  with  her  from 
Bavaria.  The  body  was  then  enveloped  in  cere- 
cloth and  compactly  tied,  in  order  to  be  placed  in  a 
leaden  coffin ;  at  the  bottom  and  throughout  which, 
there  was  four  fingers  depth  of  the  said  balm  in  pow- 
der. This  coffin,  being  well  soldered,  w^as  enclosed 
in  another  of  wood,  all  the  vacant  spaces  having 
been  filled  with  dried  aromatic  herbs.  The  entrails, 
after  being  well  prepared,  were  placed  in  a  leaden 
coffin,  with  a  great  quantity  of  the  same  aromatic 
powders,  which,  being  well  soldered,  was  enclosed 
in  a  barrel  of  wood." 

We  shall  have  occasion  again  to  recur  to  this 

o 

mode  of  preparation ;  observing  only,  that  a  subject 
thus  mutilated,  slashed,  and  stuffed,  has  more  the 
resemblance  of  prepared  meat  than  an  embalmed 
body ;  that  the  sentiment  which  led  to  a  recourse  to 


DOWN    TO    OUR    DAY.  117 

embalming,  ought  to  create  a  deep  horror  for  the 
mutilation  of  a  body  which  it  was  desirable  to  pos- 
sess in  all  its  integrity ;  that,  in  fine,  the  operation 
of  embalming  thus  practised  is  more  cruel  for  the 
feelings,  than  the  natural  destruction  and  dissolution 
of  the  parts.       ♦ 


118   ART  OF  EMBALMING  IN  OUR  OWN  DAYS, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

•r 
ART    OF    EMBALMING     IN     OUR    OWN     DAYS,    PREVIOUS 

TO    MY    DISCOVERIES. 

Organic  chemistry  has  made  great  progress  since 
the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  and  the 
facts  upon  which  it  is  constituted  have  been  suffi- 
ciently known  and  accurately  studied,  to  elevate  it 
to  the  rank  of  an  exact  science.  Numerous  appli- 
cations have  been  made,  with  immense  advantage 
to  the  arts  and  sciences ;  but  the  great  light  it  has 
shed  in  such  numerous  directions,  has  but  feebly 
enlightened  the  art  of  embalming,  and  we  will  say, 
with  M.  Pelletan,  that  we  cannot  but  be  astonished 
to  observe,  that  the  same  processes  are  continued  in 
our  day  which  were  only  predicated  on  the  descrip- 
tion of  Herodotus  upon  points  evidently  defective, 
and  that  without  any  kind  of  discernment  or  analy- 
sis, in  a  manner  entirely  routine.  No  regard  has 
been  taken  to  the  enormous  difference  which  the 
dissimilitude  of  exterior  conditions  must  establish 
between  our  practices  and  those  of  the  Egyptians. 
It  is,  nevertheless,  an  art  thus  constituted,  which 
will  invoke  the  aid  of  three  learned  professions.  It 
was,  indeed,  a  grave  subject  of  discussion  to  determine, 
whether  the  physician,  the  surgeon,  or  the  apothe- 
cary, ought  to  take  precedence  in  the  honours  of  this 
operation.  A  conciliatory  spirit  once  arose  in  one  of 
these  disputes  :  after  long  consideration  and  mature 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  119 

examination,  it  was  concluded,  that  the  three  pro- 
fessions rendered  such  services  in  these  circum- 
stances, that  they  should  march  in  a  line,  and  that 
they  ought,  in  consequence,  to  render  each  other 
aid  and  support  in  a  common  cause.  Nevertheless, 
judging  from  the  great  incisions,  perforations,  the 
flesh  hacked  and  stuffed  with  perfumes,  the  arbiter 
would  have  been  justified  in  deciding  that  the  hog- 
butcher  possessed  superior  claims  to  any  of  his  com- 
petitors for  practising  embalming.  We  shall  be  con- 
"\T.nced,  in  reading  the  following  notice,  that  the  pre- 
tensions which  we  claim  in  favour  of  an  honest 
artist,  are  neither  ridiculous  nor  extravagant. 

M.  Boudet,  charged  with  the  embalming  of  the 
senators,  gives  us  a  faithful  account  of  the  method 
which  he  followed  to  preserve  the  magnates  of  the 
empire. 

There  was  prepared  for  this  operation  : — 

1.  A  powder  composed  of  tan,  decrepitated  salt, 
quinquina,  canella,  and  other  astringent  and  aro- 
matic substances,  Jew's  pitch,  benzoin,  &c. ;  the 
whole  mixed  and  reduced  to  a  fine  powder,  and 
sprinkled  with  essential  oils  :  the  tan  forms  one-half 
the  weight,  the  salt  one-fourth. 

2.  Alcohol  saturated  with  camphor. 

3.  Camphorated  vinegar,  with  spirits  of  camphor. 

4.  A  varnish,  composed  of  the  balsam  of  Peru, 
and  balsam  of  copaiba,  fluid  styrax,  oil  of  nutmeg, 
lavender,  and  thyme,  &c. 

5.  Alcohol  saturated  with  hyper-oxygenated  mu- 
riate of  mercury. 

The  whole  being  prepared,  the  cavities  are  opened 
with  large  incisions,  and  the  viscera  extracted ;  a 


120       ART    OF    EMBALMING    IN    OUR    OWN    DAYS, 

crucial  incision  is  made  in  the  integuments  of  the 
cranium,   the  skull  sawn  circularly,  and  the  brain 
removed ;  the  intestinal  tube  is  to  be  opened  its 
whole  length,  and  numerous  deep  incisions  made  in 
it;  the  whole  to  be  washed  repeatedly;  after  ex- 
pressing them,  wash  them  again   in  camphorated 
vinegar,  and  again  with  camphorated  alcohol.     All 
the  internal  parts  thus  prepared  and  rolled  in  the 
compound  powder,  are  ready  to  be  replaced.     Nu- 
merous incisions  are  then  to  be  made  on  the  inter- 
nal surfaces  of  the  great  cavities,  following  the  di- 
rection of  the  muscles ;  wash  all  the  parts  and  ex- 
press them  well ;  to  which  must  succeed  lotions  of 
vinegar  and  camphorated  alcohol ;  afterwards  apply 
with  a  small  brush,  the  alcoholic  solution  of  corro- 
sive sublimate  to  all  the  incisions ;  it  produces  much 
heat,  the  muscles  become  bleached,  and  the  surface 
is  promptly  dried.     This  done,  a  layer  of  varnish 
must  be  applied  to  all  the  internal  incisions,  filling 
them  with  the  powder  ;  the  varnish  is  also  applied 
to  all  the  internal  surfaces  of  the  cavities,  also  a 
layer  of  the  powder  which  will  adhere  to  the  var- 
nish ;  each  viscera  is  then  to  be  replaced  in  its  pro- 
per position,  adding  as  much  of  the  powder  as  is  ne- 
cessary to  fill  the  vacant  spaces,  and  sew  up  the  in- 
teguments, taking  care  to  varnish  and  powder  the 
internal  surface  of  those  which  are  contiguous  to  the 
bones.     All  the  cavities  being  closed,  varnish  the 
external  incisions  and  fill  them  with  powder  ;  var- 
nish also  the  whole  surface  of  the  skin,  and  apply  a 
layer  of  powder  which  will  adhere  generally.     To 
the  corpse  thus  embalmed,  apply  to  every  part,  in- 
cluding the  face,  methodical  bandages,  which  will 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  121 

produce  a  general  pressure  and  cover  all  the  sur- 
face ;  varnish  the  first  bandage,  and  apply  a  layer 
of  powder;  and  finally,  a  second  bandage,  which 
must  also  be  varnished ;  when  the  body  is  deposited 
in  a  leaden  coffin,  and  all  the  spaces  filled  with  com- 
pound powder,  solder  on  the  lid,  and  the  operation 
is  finished.' 

It  will  be  perceived  that,  in  this  method,  the  ac- 
cess of  air  is,  as  much  as  possible,  opposed ;  but  this 
precaution  is  illusory,  since  in  place  of  drying  the 
body,  it  has  been  filled  with  powders  which  are  real 
hygrometers,  and  which  only  absorb  humidity  to 
become  themselves  loaded  with  it :  that  indispen- 
sable condition  to  all  perfect  preservation  was  here 
wanting,  completely  to  desiccate  the  body,  still  pre- 
serving it  afterwards  from  all  humidity  and  access 
of  air ;  adding  further,  that  many  of  these  substances 
neutralize  each  other. 

M.  Pelletan,  who  furnishes  us  with  the  preceding 
criticism,  proposes  to  rectify  the  method  after  the 
data  which  we  derive  from  those  of  the  Egyptians, 
of  Clauderus,  and  the  researches  of  Rouelle.  Conse- 
quently, we  must  proceed  in  the  following  manner : 
remove  all  the  viscera,  sew  up  carefully  the  integu- 
ments, plunge  the  body  for  several  weeks,  in  a  weak 
solution  of  sub-carbonate  of  soda,  after  having  filled 

1  It  is  astonishing  that  M.  Boudet,  charged  with  the  embalming  of 
the  senators  of  the  empire,  did  not  think  of  profiling  by  the  discoveries 
of  the  illustrious  Chaussier,  in  order  to  simplify  a  method  so  ridiculously 
empirical ;  for,  between  his  processes  and  ihe  thousand  forraulse  of  Pe- 
nicher,  the  difference  is  not  very  great;  it  is  the  same  accumulation  of 
powders,  resins,  balms,  essences,  &c.  He  had,  notwithstanding,  a  good 
example  to  follow  in  anticipation  of  a  better,  which  was  the  embalming 
of  Colonel  Morland. 

16 


122      ART    OF    EMBALMING    IN    OUR    OWN    DAYS, 

all  the  cavities  with  it ;  wash  the  corpse  freely,  and 
soak  it  for  some  days  in  an  aluminous  bath,  to  re- 
move all  the  alkaline  particles ;  expose  it  afterwards 
to  the  air,  or  in  a  stove,  to  produce  desiccation,  tak- 
ing care  to  fill  all  the  cavities  with  tow^  and  with 
resinous  and  aromatic  matters,  so  as  to  preserve  the 
form ;  desiccation  once  completed,  varnish  wdth  care 
the  whole  surface  of  the  body,  and  envelope  it  in  a 
double  bandage,  impregnated,  and  covered  with  the 
same  varnish.  This  method,  which  approaches 
nearly  that  of  the  Egyptians,  would  secure,  without 
doubt,  a  perfect  preservation,  provided  the  body  be 
placed  in  a  situation  exempt  from  all  humidity,  and 
the  temperature  of  which  is  not  variable. 

We  should  acknowledge  the  justice  of  these  ob- 
servations, and  thank  M.  Pelletan  for  having  sub- 
stituted an  accurate  and  rational  proceeding  for 
blind  and  thoughtless  practices.  The  operation, 
nevertheless,  as  proposed  by  the  professor,  still  ex- 
acts numerous  mutilations.  The  inconvenience  and 
inutility  of  so  many  efforts  to  preserve  the  body  of 
our  own  kind,  was,  besides,  long  experienced  by 
many  spirited  writers ;  which  is  proved  by  the  eager- 
ness with  which  they  took  advantage  of  the  disco- 
veries of  Chaussier,  respecting  the  properties  of  cor- 
rosive sublimate  applied  to  embalming.  By  his  re- 
searches it  was  proved,  that  this  salt  preserved  ani- 
mal matters  soaked  in  its  aqueous  solution ;  that  it 
produced  this  effect  by  an  intimate  combination 
with  animal  matter  ;  in  fine,  that  this  matter  satu- 
rated with  corrosive  sublimate,  passed  so  quickly 
into  a  state  of  desiccation,  that  it  was  necessary  to 
moderate  it,  to  prevent  the  horny  hardening  of  the 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  123 

soft  parts.  Parts  thus  prepared,  are  rigid,  hard, 
grayish,  and  preserved  at  the  same  time  from  putre- 
faction and  insects.  No  time  was  lost  to  profit  by 
this  property  of  the  deuto-chloridc  of  mercury,  to 
apply  it  to  the  preservation  of  whole  bodies.  It  was, 
in  fine,  the  last  method  of  embalming  practised  pre- 
viously to  my  own,  and  held  as  very  superior  to  that 
of  the  ancients.  We  shall  collect  here,  some  obser- 
vations cited  as  remarkable  examples,  and  as  proofs 
of  the  excellence  of  the  process.  It  will  remain  for 
us  afterwards  to  appreciate  its  merits.  Let  us  first 
see  the  facts. 

First  fact,  (A.)    Preparation  made  by  Bedard. 

M.  Beclard,  chief  of  the  anatomical  works  at  the 
School  of  Medicine,  was  charged  with  the  preser- 
vation of  the  body  of  a  young  man  thirty  years  of 
age,  who  died  of  a  hectic  fever.  The  relatives- de- 
sired to  place  the  body  in  a  glass  case,  and  requested, 
above  all,  that  it  should  7iot  be  opened.  In  spite  of 
the  disadvantage  of  this  last  restriction,  M.  Beclard 
succeeded  in  this  operation  by  the  following  pro- 
cess: the  intestines  were  withdrawn,  opened,  and 
cleaned  in  a  portion  of  their  length,  by  a  little  hole 
made  in  the  abdomen.  He  penetrated  the  chest  by 
means  of  two  incisions,  under  the  armpits  ;  through 
which  water  was  injected ;  a  small  hole  was  also 
made  in  the  cranium  ;  the  blood  of  the  abdominal 
and  cutaneous  veins  was,  as  much  as  possible,  ex- 
pressed out,  a  mercurial  solution  was  injected  into 
the  trachea,  and  the  salt  in  substance  introduced 
into  all  the  cavities ;  the  corpse  was  then  soaked  in 
a  bath  saturated  with  corrosive  sublimate.    Durin  >• 


124       ART    OF    EMBALMING    IN    OUR    OWN    DAYS, 

the  first  month  it  appeared  to  offer  some  signs  of 
putrefaction ;  it  was  then  thought  necessary  to  in- 
troduce an  instrument  into  the  abdomen  by  the  aid 
of  which  the  peritoneum  was  incised  at  different 
points,  M.  Beclard  having  already  remarked,  that 
those  parts  situated  beneath  the  serous  membranes, 
escaped  the  action  of  the  sublimate  :  the  body  was 
returned  to  the  bath ;  some  scarifications  were  made 
beneath  tliose  points  of  the  skin  which  appeared 
greenish ;  the  epidermis  of  the  soles  of  the  feet  also 
protected  the  subjacent  parts  ;  this  was  removed  ; 
finally,  after  two  months  sojourn  in  the  sublimated 
bath,  the  body  being  withdrawn  during  a  hot  and 
dry  season,  became  desiccated  in  a  few  days.  It  was 
preserved  for  a  year  enclosed  in  a  box,  without  ex- 
haling any  odour,  or  without  any  sign  of  alteration. 
The  skin  is  of  a  leaden  gray  colour,  and  the  fea- 
tures of  the  face  are  deformed  by  the  emaciation  of 
the  lips  and  cheeks. 

Second  fact,  (B.)    Preservatioyi  of  the  body  of 
Colonel  Morland. 

In  one  of  the  German  campaigns,  M.  le  Baron 
Larrey  was  charged  with  the  direction  of  the  pre- 
servation of  the  body  of  the  brave  Colonel  Morland, 
who  received  a  mortal  wound  in  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  charges.  M.  Ribes  aided  him  in  this  pre- 
paration.^ They  at  first  removed  all  the  viscera 
through  an  incision  made  in  a  line  with  the  crest  of 
the  right  ilium,  and  in  cutting  the  attachments  of 

1  We  ought  to  render  homage  to  the  zeal  and  noble  devotion  which 
enabled  the  celebrated  Larrey  to  surmount  all  the  difficulties  of  his  posi- 
tion to  preserve  the  body  of  a  companion  in  arms. 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  125 

the  diaphragm,  and  the  canals  which  pass  through 
the  superior  opening  of  the  chest,  the  crown  of  the 
trephine  applied  to  the  posterior  part  of  the  cranium 
permitted  the  brain  to  be  cleaned  out  by  repeated 
injections.  The  eye  was  opened  by  bursting  its 
globe.  Having  introduced  the  powdered  sublimate 
into  all  the  cavities,  those  of  the  face  were  plugged 
in  order  to  prevent  emaciation ;  the  features  were 
protected  by  graduated  compresses  and  methodical 
bandages ;  the  whole  body  was  itself  enveloped  in 
several  cloths,  and  placed  in  a  barrel  of  super-satu- 
rated solution  of  corrosive  sublirnate  ;  in  this  state 
the  whole  was  forwarded  to  Paris.  At  the  end  of 
some  months  the  barrel  was  opened  ;  the  body  was 
found  well  preserved  ;  on  exposure  to  the  air  it 
dried  quickly ;  care  was  taken  to  fill  all  the  cavi- 
ties with  stoupes ;  the  membranes  of  the  eye,  which 
had  retired  to  the  bottom  of  the  orbit,  were  replaced 
by  eyes  of  enamel ;  the  hair,  the  eyelids,  and  the 
mustaches  were  preserved ;  the  features  were  recog- 
nisable, and  the  body  varnished  carefully,  and 
dressed  in  the  usual  clothes,  produced  a  soft  and  me- 
lancholy illusion  in  those  who  had  known  this  ex- 
cellent officer.  Now  that  several  years  have  passed, 
the  body  of  Colonel  Morland,  placed  in  a  glass  case 
in  the  library  of  M.  Larrey,  offers  no  sign  of  altera- 
tion, exhales  no  odour,  and  remains  'perfectly  recog- 
nisable, although  the  skin  looks  h'own,  and  as  if 
tanned,  and  all  the  cellular  membrane  appears  to  have 
disappeared,  so  that  the  form  of  the  muscles  may  be 
perceived  through  the  dried  integuments. 

Remarks  on  observing  Colo7iel  Morland' s  body. — 
We  have  seen  the  body  of  Colonel  Morland,  and  we 


126       ART    OF    EMBALMING    IN    OUR    OWN    DAYS. 

can  comprehend  that  persons  who  have  known  him, 
and  who  have  seen  him  dressed,  may  carry  the  illu- 
sion so  far  as  to  recognise  some  of  his  features.  But, 
as  for  ourselves,  it  appeared  to  us  impossible  that  a 
corpse,  the  white  skin  of  which  had  become  brown 
and  tanned,  of  which  all  the  cellular  tissue  had 
disappeared,  and  the  general  aspect  of  which  is  that 
of  a  rigid  membrane  glued  to  the  bones,  and  some 
few  dried  fleshy  fasciculi,  should  preserve  a  great 
likeness  to  the  subject  of  which  it  affords  only  some 
wrecks.  We  confine  ourselves  here  to  the  indica- 
tion of  the  exaggeration  of  this  fact  in  particular  ; 
we  shall  touch  upon  this  subject  again  in  our  gene- 
ral remarks. 

Third  fact,  (C)    Preservatmi  of  a  young  girl  of 
ten  years. 

M.  Boudet,  apothecary,  was  requested  by  a  mo- 
ther to  prepare  the  body  of  a  daughter  who  had  died 
at  the  age  of  ten  years,  in  such  a  manner  that  she 
could  continually  enjoy  the  sight  of  her. 

A  bust  had  been  made  of  the  infant,  and  they  had 
taken  care  to  choose,  at  the  moment  of  death,  eyes 
of  enamel  perfectly  resembling  her  own.  M.  Boudet, 
untrammelled  in  his  operation,  which  was  performed 
at  his  own  house,  commenced  by  removing  the  vis- 
cera, by  the  aid  of  incisions  skilfully  managed.  He 
extracted  the  brain  through  the  occiput.  The  eyes 
were  taken  out  and  replaced  by  a  plug ;  all  the  ca- 
vities were  immediately  filled  with  a  dry  stoupe, 
and  the  openings  closed  with  accurate  sutures.  Dur- 
ing these  various  preparations,  the  body  had  been 
plunged  in  a  bath  of  pure  alcohol,  then  into  an  al- 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  127 

cohol  bath  contaimng  a  little  sublimate.  All  being 
thus  disposed  of,  the  body  was  placed  in  a  bath  of 
distilled  water,  saturated  with  the  sublimate,  and  in 
which  still  soaked  some  parcels  filled  with  this  salt. 
The  body  remained  three  months  in  this  solution  ; 
forty  pounds  of  the  sublimate  were  consumed  ;  much 
of  the  mild  muriate  was  precipitated  ;  even  a  por- 
tion of  the  mercury  was  revivified  ;  but  it  is  neces- 
sary to  observe  that  the  vase  in  which  he  operated 
rvas  of  had,  which  should  occasion  the  decomposi- 
tion, and  augment  the  consummation  of  the  subli- 
mate. At  the  end  of  three  months  the  body  was 
withdrawn  from  the  bath,  in  order  to  proceed  to  the 
desiccation  ;  it  was  suspended  by  bands  in  order  to 
avoid  deforming  it,  and  to  let  it  drain :  care  was 
taken  to  elevate  the  walls  of  the  cavities  with  new 
stoupes,  when  they  appeared  to  be  deformed ;  the 
eyelids  and  the  lips  were  kept  closed  with  English 
taffeta.  When  the  desiccation  was  completed,  arti- 
ficial eyes  were  put  in,  some  features  of  the  face 
were  changed,  and  particularly  the  upper  lip.  A 
skilful  artist  modelled  them  in  wax  imitating  the 
bust,  which  served  him  as  a  model ;  the  skin  being 
observed  of  a  gray  colour,  it  was  coloured  with 
paint ;  the  hair,  perfectly  preserved,  was  very  natu- 
ral; finally,  this  infant,  clothed  in  its  ordinary  dress, 
and  enclosed  in  a  glass  case,  presents  a  perfect  re- 
semblance, and  causes  an  extraordinary  illusion. 

Remarks  on  these  three  observations. — Let  us  first 
remark  that  the  substitution  of  this  process  for  all 
those  that  had  previously  been  employed,  is  a  great 
progress.  Indeed,  in  place  of  a  multitude  of  drugs, 
endowed  with  properties  either  opposite  or  unknown^ 


128   ART  OF  EMBALMING  IN  OUR  OWN  DAYS, 

a  single  substance,  studied  with  care,  and  of  deter- 
mined properties,  is  placed  in  contact  with  the  tis- 
sues, which  become  modified  according  to  the  wishes 
of  the  embalmer.  A  charlatanism  thus  becomes  a 
scientific  operation,  since  a  method  which  preserves 
bodies,  better  or  worse,  takes  the  place  of  others, 
which,  far  from  preserving  from  corruption,  often 
accelerates  it.  Nevertheless,  we  must  say,  that  em- 
balming with  sublimate  is  still  far  from  perfection, 
and,  not  to  speak  here  of  the  inconvenience  resulting 
from  the  three  cited  observations,  it  will  be  observed 
that  the  incisions  and  mutilations  exist  still  in  this 
process  ;  that  they  are  necessary  to  it,  since,  in  spite 
of  the  wishes  of  the  family,  Professor  Beclard  was 
obliged  to  multiply  them,  in  order  to  arrest  the  pro- 
gress of  decomposition.  Many  months  are  requisite 
for  the  perfect  completion  of  the  work,  which  ren- 
ders it  impossible  to  recur  to  it  under  many  circum- 
stances. The  action  of  the  sublimate,  which  com- 
bines with  the  gelatine,  and  gives  rise  to  an  impu- 
tresible  compound,  protected  from  the  ravages  of  in- 
sects, deforms  the  organs  to  such  a  degree,  however, 
that  the  colour  and  general  aspect  of  the  body  are 
changed.  This  deformation  is  so  great  in  the  third 
observation,  that  it  was  necessary  to  reform  several 
organs  :  the  upper  lip  was  so  damaged,  that  a  shilful 
artist  was  obliged  to  reform  it  in  wax,  as  well  as  seve- 
ral other  features  of  the  face,  in  imitating  the  bust, 
which  served  as  a  model ;  the  skin  being  of  a  gray 
colour,  it  was  coloured  with  paint,  &c. 

These  imperfections  would  of  course  be  of  less 
importance  in  the  preparation  of  anatomical  parts ; 
but,  to  preserve  the  body  of  a  person  who  was  dear 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  129 

to  US,  they  are  serious,  and  leave  a  painful  impres- 
sion. 

But  to  return  to  our  exposition. 

Fourth  fact,  (D.)  Proces-verbal  of  the  embalming 
of  the  body  of  Louis  XVIII. ,  King  of  France. 

Extract  from  the  proces-verbaux  of  the  opening  and  embalming  of  the 
late  King  Louis  XVIII. — f  General  Repertory  of  Anatomy ,  Physiology, 
and  Pathology,  Vol.  8,  p.  36,  in  Ato.,  1829.  J 

Proces-verbal  of  the  embalming,  p.  40. 

This  day,  17th  September,  1824,  immediately 
after  the  opening  of  the  body  of  the  late  King  Louis 
XVIII.,  and  conformably  to  the  instructions  given 
us  by  M.,  the  Marquis  de  Breze,  grand  master  of 
the  ceremonies  of  France,  we,  the  undersigned,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  embalming,  after  the  following  man- 
ner : 

1st.  The  heart  of  the  late  king,  after  having  been 
washed  and  macerated  for  four  or  five  hours  in  an 
alcoholic  solution  of  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury 
or  corrosive  sublimate,  and  having  been  filled  and 
surrounded  with  choice  aromatics,  was  enclosed  in 
a  leaden  box,  bearing  an  inscription  indicative  of  the 
precious  object  which  it  contained. 

2d.  The  viscera  of  the  three  great  cavities  of  the 
body,  after  having  been  incised,  washed,  and  mace- 
rated six  hours  in  the  above-named  solution,  were 
penetrated,  filled,  and  surrounded  with  aromatics, 
and  enclosed  in  a  leaden  barrel,  bearing  an  inscrip- 
tion indicative  of  the  parts  it  contained. 

3d.  The  totality  of  the  surface  of  the  body,  and  the 
surfaces  of  the  great  cavities,  were  successively  wash- 
ed with  a  solution  of  the  chloride  of  the  oxide  of 

17 


130   ART  OF  EMBALMING  IN  OUR  OWN  DAYS, 

sodium,  and  with  the  alcoholic  solution  of  the  deuto- 
chloride  of  mercury. 

4th.  The  fleshy  parts,  as  well  of  the  trunk  as  of 
the  limbs,  were  extensively  and  deeply  incised,  and 
afterwards  washed  with  the  above  named  solu- 
tions. 

5th.  The  surfaces  of  the  body,  of  the  cavities,  and 
of  the  incisions,  were  supplied  with  several  applica- 
tions of  spirit  varnish. 

6th.  All  the  cavities  were  filled  wdth  powders, 
formed  of  various  species  of  aromatics  and  resins. 

7th.  These  cavities  were  closed  by  bringing 
their  borders  together,  sustained  by  numerous  su- 
tures. 

8th.  The  limbs,  the  pelvis,  the  abdomen,  the 
chest,  the  neck,  and  the  head,  were  successively 
surrounded  with  bandages,  methodically  applied. 

9th.  The  whole  surface  of  the  body  thus  enve- 
loped, was  covered  with  many  layers  of  varnish. 

10th.  Upon  this  varnish  were  applied  bandages  of 
gum  diachilon. 

11th.  Over  the  bandages  of  diachilon,  other  ban- 
dages of  varnished  taffeta  were  applied. 

12th.  Finally,  a  last  layer  of  bandages  was  ap- 
plied over  the  varnished  taffeta. 

13th.  The  embalming  terminated,  the  head  of 
the  late  king  was  covered  with  a  cap,  his  body  with 
a  chemise,  his  arms  and  breast  with  a  vest,  with 
sleeves  made  of  white  silk ;  the  whole  with  a  sheet 
of  batiste. 

It  was  in  this  state  that  the  body  of  the  king  was 
returned  to  M.  Breze,  to  be  deposited  in  the  coffin 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  131 

Avhicli  was  to  enclose  his  mortal  remains  at  Saint 

Dennis. 

Signed,  Portal,  Alibert,  Dupnytren,  Fabre,  Dis- 
tel,  Thevenot,  Portal,  (for  Ribes,)  Auvity,  Bres- 
chet,  Mura,  Moreau,  Bardenat,  Vesque,  Dal- 
mas,  Delagenerraye. 

Here  the  process  followed,  although  analogous  in 
many  respects  to  the  preceding,  differs  from  them, 
however,  in  the  addition  of  numerous  drugs,  and  in 
the  rapidity  of  the  preparation  ;  the  following  nearly, 
in  all  respects,  the  same,  will  furnish  matter  for  re- 
flection. 

Fifth  and  last  fact,  {E.)    Notice  of  the  process  of 
embahning,  adopted  for  the  body  of  L.  D.  C.  D. 

Before  exposing  the  details  of  this  embalming, 
we  ought  to  remark,  that  various  reasons  compelled 
us  to  modify,  in  ditferent  points,  the  plan  which  we 
had  traced  out  for  ourselves,  after  reading  those  au- 
thors who  have  written  on  this  subject ;  thus,  the 
family  had  earnestly  desired  that  no  part  of  the  body 
should  be  abstracted,  wishing  that  the  coffin  should 
contain  the  entire  remains  of  L.  D.  C.  D.,  their  re- 
lation. On  the  other  hand,  it  was  necessary  to  pre- 
serve his  features  and  physiognomy,  in  order  that 
his  body  might  be  recognised  on  its  arrival  to  his 
family,  who  inhabit  England.  Finally,  that  which, 
above  all,  prevented  us  pursuing  a  surer  and  more 
rational  mode  of  operation,  was  the  particular  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  allowing  us  only  one  sitting 
to  accomplish  the  embalming. 

However  this  be,  we  shall  now  describe  the  pro- 


132   ART  OF  EMBALMING  IN  OUR  OWN  DAVS, 

cess  which  was  followed,  leaving  for  another  article, 
which  will  appear  immediately,  the  modifications 
that  may  be  introduced  to  diminish  the  difficulty 
and  expense,  and,  if  possible,  render  the  result  more 
certain. 

1.  Necroscopy. — The  process  to  be  followed  even 
in  this  early  stage  of  the  operation,  is  not  a  matter 
of  indifference  ;  all  the  external  parts  having  to  re- 
tain their  natural  form,  great  care  was  necessary  in 
abstracting  the  viscera. 

In  order  to  secure  this  end,  without,  at  the  same 
time  neglecting  the  examination  of  the  organs,  the 
following  plan  was  adopted  : 

a.  An  incision,  commencing  at  the  symphysis  of 
the  chin,  following  the  mesial  line  divided  all  the 
integuments  and  muscles  down  to  the  symphysis 
pubis. 

h.  The  sternum  sawn  through  the  middle  per- 
mitted the  hand  to  be  introduced  into  the  cavity 
without  destroying  any  part  of  the  thoracic  walls. 

c.  All  the  organs,  from  the  tongue  to  the  bladder 
and  rectum,  carefully  detached,  were  withdrawn 
through  this  opening.  (The  result  of  the  necroscopy 
was  published  in  the  third  part  of  the  Bulletin  Cli- 
nique,  p.  79.) 

d.  The  eyes  were  extracted  with  precaution. 

e.  The  integuments  of  the  head  were  divided 
transversely,  from  one  mastoid  apophysis  to  the 
other,  and  turned  down  before  and  behind  to  the  ex- 
tent of  three  inches ;  it  was  in  this  space,  where,  by 
the  aid  of  two  sections  by  the  saw,  one  vertical,  the 
other  horizontal  from  behind  forwards,  we  were 
enabled  to  raise  a  sesrraent  of  the  cranium  which  al- 


PREVIOUS    TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  133 

lowed  of  the  extraction  of  the  brain,  the  medulla  ob- 
longata being  cut  off  as  low  down  as  possible. 

2.  Desiccation  of  the  corpse. — This  first  operation 
over,  the  corpse  was,  as  much  as  possible,  disem- 
barrassed of  the  fluids  which  it  contained,  whether 
in  the  great  cavities,  or  in  the  cephalo-rachidien  ca- 
nal. Then,  by  the  aid  of  precious  aromatics,  and 
absorbing  powders,  frequently  renewed,  the  tissues 
were  divested  of  their  humidity. 

3.  Maceration  of  the  viscera. — After  the  examina- 
tion of  these,  they  were  freely  washed  in  a  saline 
solution,  and  then  macerated  for  two  hours  in  a  con- 
centrated solution  of  alum,  hydrochlorate  of  soda, 
and  chloride  of  sodium,  (Gannal's  liquor,)  and  finally, 
they  were  submitted  for  several  hours  more  to  the 
action  of  a  concentrated  solution  of  the  deuto-chlo- 
ride  of  mercury. 

4.  Maceration  of  the  corpse. — Ail  the  parts  having 
been  conveniently  detached,  alcoholic  injections 
were  made  into  the  vessels  of  the  limbs,  and  into 
the  rachidien  canal ;  and  immediately  after  each  of 
these  partial  injections,  others  were  made,  consist- 
ing of  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury,  which  were  re- 
tained in  the  arteries  by  ligature,  and  in  the  canal 
by  a  cork.  Similar  injections  were  also  used  for 
various  regions  which  are  abundantly  supplied  with 
cellular  tissue. 

The  members  and  the  trunk,  both  internally  and 
externally,  were  sprinkled  with  a  concentrated  al- 
coholic solution  of  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury, 
and  enveloped  for  several  hours  with  stoupes  and 
compresses  steeped  in  this  liquid.  Finally,  in  order 
that  no  part  should  be  deprived  of  the  conservative 


134   ART  OF  EMBALMING  IN  OUR  OWN  DAYS, 

action  of  the  corrosive  sublimate,  the  mouth,  the 
nasal  fossse,  the  orbits,  and  the  auditory  passages, 
were  filled  with  little  bags  of  this  substance  in  pow- 
der ;  and  by  means  of  profound  and  numerous  in- 
cisions, the  same  was  introduced  in  the  muscles  of 
the  limbs  and  back,  &c.  (These  incisions,  narrow 
at  the  surface,  extended  deeply,  and  in  various  di- 
rections in  the  subjacent  tissues.) 

5.  All  the  viscera  were  replaced  in  the  great  cavi- 
ties formed  by  the  union  of  the  thorax  and  abdomen. 

This  part  of  the  operation  was  made  with  extreme 
minuteness ;  the  organs  cut  into  pieces  about  the 
size  of  the  fist,  were  separately  dried  in  balsamic 
powders,  then  supplied  abundantly  with  chloride  of 
lime,  and  surrounded  with  stoupes  steeped  in  the 
alcoholic  solution  of  the  sublimate ;  each  package, 
thus  constituted,  was  invested  in  two  plates  of  lead, 
and  placed  in  the  cavity  of  the  thorax ;  aromatic 
powders,  chloride  of  lime,  and  stoupes,  steeped  in 
the  sublimate,  separated  the  different  layers. 

The  heart,  (for  the  satisfaction  of  the  relatives,) 
was  left  entire,  and  replaced  in  its  natural  position, 
after  having  been  subjected  to  the  same  prepara- 
tions. The  cranium  was  filled  with  the  same  sub- 
stances employed  for  the  preservation  of  each  or- 
gan„ 

6.  The  segment  raised  on  a  level  with  the  lambdoi- 
dal  suture,  the  integuments  are  to  be  united  by  me- 
thodical suture,  and  the  same  is  to  be  done  for  the 
abdomen  and  thorax. 

The  seam  on  the  scalp  was  not  visible,  because 
it  was  covered  by  the  hair,  with  which  the  head 


PREVIOUS   TO    MY    DISCOVERIES.  135 

was  yet  abundantly  covered.     The  trunk  was  not 
deformed. 

7.  Application  of  the  bandages. — Previously  to  ap- 
plying the  bandages,  a  coat  of  varnish  is  given  to 
the  whole  body,  with  the  exception  of  the  face,  and 
immediately  upon  this  varnish  are  placed  layers  of 
lead  ;  it  is  then  only,  that  methodical  bandages  are 
made  to  cover  all  the  parts,  from  the  fingers  and 
toes  to  the  head ;  each  turn  of  bandage  was  fixed 
by  a  point  of  suture,  then  covered  again  with  an- 
other layer  of  varnish,  with  new  plates  of  lead,  and 
finally,  with  a  new  bandage  applied  with  the  same 
care  as  the  first. 

The  face,  until  now  remaining  free,  was  submitted 
to  the  same  applications,  but  so  arranged  that  it  could 
be  uncovered  at  any  time,  without  disturbing  the 
rest  of  the  bandages. 

The  body  was  then  covered  with  a  cloth,  sur- 
rounded with  a  mantel  of  satin,  and  deposited  in  a 
leaden  coffin :  it  was  left  exposed  to  the  air  for  more 
than  twenty-four  hours,  without  exhaling  any  other 
odour  than  that  of  the  aromatics  employed. 

The  operation  which  had  commenced  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  was  not  terminated  until 
after  two  in  the  morning. 

The  operation  was  very  painful  on  account  of 
the  gas,  particularly  the  chlorine,  which  was  freely 
exhaled  towards  the  latter  part  of  the  process,  fa- 
tio-uino-  the  assistants,  who  were  all  tormented  with 
a  very  violent  irritating  cough. 

Such  are  the  details  of  this  embalming,  which 
had  been  announced  as  constituting  the  perfection 


136       ART    OF    EMBALMING    IN    OUR    OWN    DAYS, 

of  the  interesting  necropsy  described  in  one  of  the 
late  numbers  of  the  Bulletin  Clinique. 

A.   LOREAU, 

E.  Chanut. 

What  strange  naivete  on  the  part  of  the  em- 
balmer !  he  had  just  stated  that  the  operation  was 
very  painful  on  account  of  the  gas,  particularly  of 
the  chlorine,  which  was  freely  exhaled  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  process,  very  much  fatiguing  the 
assistants.  Ought  you  not  to  have  anticipated  this, 
you  who  were  charged  with  such  preparations? 
Ought  you  not  to  have  known  even  the  inutility  of 
such  an  incoherent  mixture  of  substances  ? 

It  is  not  excusable,  indeed,  to  be  ignorant  that  the 
chloride  of  lime,  {chloride  of  the  oxide  of  calcium,) 
mixed  with  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury,  produces, 
with  the  disengagement  of  chlorine,  two  new  pro- 
ducts, first,  the  chloride  of  calcium,  [muriate  of 
lime,)  and  the  deutoxide  of  mercury,  [red  precipi- 
tate,) an  insoluble  substance,  to  which  no  one  has 
ever  attributed  conservative  properties.  Upon  what 
principle,  further,  upon  what  positive  knowledge 
are  we  authorized  to  make  so  frequent  use  of  the 
chloride  of  lime  in  embalming  ?  No  scientific  data 
justifies  this  practice.  Is  it  because  it  possesses  dis- 
infecting properties  ?  But  this  is  the  very  reason  why 
it  should  be  rejected,  for  in  what  manner  does  it  act 
upon  putrid  miasmata  ?  Is  it  not  by  decomposing 
them  ?  No  one  doubts  this,  excepting  always  the  em- 
balmers ;  who  are  probably  also  ignorant  that  it 
possesses  in  the  highest  degree  the  property  of  de- 
composing animal  and  vegetable  matter.     I  have 


PREVIOUS    TO    UY    DISCOVERIES.  137 

proved  in  the  course  of  my  researches,  that  a  fresh 
corpse^  injected  with  one  of  the  chlorides  of  the  oxide 
of  sodium,  calcium,  potassium,  is  in  a  complete  state 
of  dissolution,  at  the  end  of  fortij-eight  hours. 

These  researches,  which  I  have  pushed  in  various 
directions,  have  weighed  hardest  upon  the  substance 
which  has  been  extolled  as  excellent,  and  as  very- 
superior  to  any  thing  used  by  the  ancients  in  em- 
balming :  I  applied  myself  to  establish,  as  far  as 
practicable,  the  precise  degree  of  confidence  that  the 
deuto-chloride  of  mercury  merited  under  these  cir- 
cumstances. It  is  very  true  that  it  preserves  ani- 
mal matter  plunged  into  a  solution  of  it ;  but  to  what 
degree,  and  under  what  rules  ?  The  following  is  a 
brief  exposition : 

1.  Coarse  anatomical  pieces,  (a  preparation  of  the 
muscles  of  the  arm,  for  example,)  plunged  into  and 
maintained  in  a  saturated  solution  of  the  deuto- 
chloride  of  mercury,  and  then  dried,  are  protected 
from  corruption,  but  they  become  brown,  stiff,  and 
so  deformed  as  scarcely  to  be  recognized. 

2.  The  injection  of  this  liquid  is  not  sufficient  to 
arrest  the  progress  of  decomposition — this  salt  not 
being  sufficiently  soluble. 

3.  The  simple  immersion  of  a  corpse  in  it  har- 
dens the  skin,  but  the  muscles  and  all  the  viscera 
are  decomposed. 

4.  The  injection  of  it,  followed  by  immersion, 
preserves  the  object  well  enough  for  the  space  of 
two  or  three  months,  but  putrid  decomposition  at- 
tacks the  thoracic  and  abdominal  viscera,  as  well  as 
the  brain  and  thick  muscles,  at  the  end  of  this  time. 

5.  A   subject  injected  with  alcoholic  sublimate, 

18 


138      ART    OF    EMBALMING    IN    OUR    OWN    DAYS, 

then  opened,  emptied,  and  macerated,  afterwards 
exposed  to  the  air,  dries  easily ;'  but  it  assumes  a 
deep  gray  colour,  and  the  tissues  become  hardened 
to  such  a  degree,  that  it  hardly  preserves  a  human 
form.  These  are  the  rigorous  results  of  experience. 
In  the  preservation  by  the  aid  of  deuto-chloride,  one 
portion  of  the  subject  is  sacrificed  to  preserve  a  few 
remains ;  the  most  noble  of  all  the  organs,  the  brain, 
the  throne  of  thought,  cedes  its  importance  to  a  few 
bones  clothed  with  dried  muscles,  and  a  skin  trans- 
formed, and  not  easily  known  again. 

These  are  but  feeble  advantages,  and  paid  for 
much  too  dearly  ;  for  the  inconveniences  and  dan- 
gers of  this  mode  of  preparation,  appears  to  us  suffi- 
cient to  cause  them  to  be  abandoned. 

It  is  very  expensive,  dangerous  for  the  operators; 
it  alters  the  instruments,  and  the  bodies  which  re- 
ceive the  influence  of  its  emanations.  Recently, 
during  the  embalming  of  some  great  personage,  all 
the  gildings  of  a  vast  saloon,  where  the  operation 
was  performed,  were  destroyed  by  the  action  of  the 
deuto-chloride. 

Nevertheless,  the  embalmings  made  with  this 
substance,  and  of  which  the  three  first  observations 
cited  in  this  chapter  are  the  most  remarkable  exam- 
ples in  our  knowledge,  afford  the  most  decided  ex- 
pressions of  the  advanced  state  of  the  art. 

What  are  the  ameliorations  resulting  from  our  dis- 
coveries? They  are  as  follows  :  1.  A  substance  easy 

'  The  deuto-cliloridc  of  mercury,  like  the  salts  of  copper,  arsenic,  iron, 
&c.,  are  decomposed  by  gelatine,  forming  a  new  imputrescible  com- 
pound. The  preservation  is  much  more  sure  if  a  lanre  quantity  of  alco- 
hol \h  used  in  drying  the  corpse. 


PREVIOUS    TO    MV    DISCOVERIES.  139 

to  manage  without  danger  to  the  operator,  without 
any  inconvenience  to  the  instruments  and  other  me- 
tals, is  substituted  for  the  sublimate ;  2.  The  opera- 
tion can  be  entirely  finished  in  half  an  hour ;  3. 
The  numerous  incisions,  the  mutilations,  the  sub- 
traction of  the  viscera,  &c.,  the  prolonged  macera- 
tion, are  replaced  by  an  injection  through  an  open- 
ing of  some  lines  in  extent ;  4.  In  place  of  a  sub- 
stance discoloured,  leathery,  and  dried,  reservincr 
more  or  less  the  human  form,  my  process  preserves 
the  subject,  such  as  it  is,  at  the  moment  of  death, 
with  the  colour  and  suppleness  proper  to  each  tis- 
sue ;*  5.  Finally,  the  expense  which,  by  the  pre- 
ceding method,  amounts  to  from  four  hundred  to 
two  thousand  dollars,  need  not  now  exceed  sixty 
dollars.  Thus  a  body  may  be  indefinitely  pre- 
served for  a  sum  less  than  the  price  of  a  leaden  cof- 
fin furnished  by  the  undertakers,  a  coffin  which  ac- 
celerates the  putrid  decovipositioji.  in  place  of  prevent- 
ing it. 

I  confine  myself  here  to  the  announcing  of  some 
results  obtained  by  my  predecessors ;  for  pre^^ous 
to  entering  into  details  of  the  experiments  which  I 
have  tried,  it  remains  for  me  to  trace  the  picture  of 
the  means  employed  down  to  our  period  for  the  pre- 
paration and  preservation  of  pieces  of  normal  anato- 
my, pathological  anatomy  and  natural  history.  This 
will  form  the  subject  of  chapter  VII. 

When  I  shall  have  made  known  the  whole  of  the 

*  Wlien  we  visited  and  ^ve  an  accurate  examination  of  the  numerous 
embalmed  objects  in  .M.  Gannal's  museum,  we  did  not  observe  any  spe- 
cimens that  had  been  finished  long  enough  to  dry.  displaying  such  per- 
fection as  that  here  stated.  —  Tr. 


140       ART    OF    EMBALMING    IN    OUR    OWN    DAYS, 

resources  of  this  other  branch  for  the  preservation  of 
animal  matters,  each  one  can  form  an  accurate 
opinion,  after  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  facts,  of 
the  part  which  belongs  to  my  labours,  and  of  the 
place  which  they  ought  to  occupy  in  the  scale  of 
natural  sciences. 


METHOD  OF  PRESERVING  SUBJECTS,    &C.       141 


CHAPTER  VII. 

METHODS  OF  PREPARING  AND  PRESERVING  SUBJECTS 
OF  ANATOMY,  PATHOLOGY,  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY, 
PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL. 

Among  the  investigations  belonging  to  the  do- 
main of  medicine,  normal  anatomy  and  pathological 
anatomy  occupy  the  first  rank  ;  they  constitute  the 
necessary  basis  of  exact  study  :  all  men  of  genuis 
have  experienced  this. 

This  conviction  has  been  the  source  of  the  perse- 
vering efforts  of  numerous  distinguished  savans, 
who  reasonably  supposed  that  they  would  merit  the 
esteem  and  gratitude  of  their  species,  if  they  could 
succeed  in  composing  collections  of  engravings,  or 
artificial  models,  representing  the  form,  colour,  &c., 
of  each  of  the  organs,  or  if  they  could  discover  me- 
thods of  preparation  capable  of  preserving  the  or- 
gans themselves  with  all  the  physical  properties 
which  they  possessed  at  the  moment  of  death. 

It  is  not  necsssary  to  enter  into  discussions  upon 
the  high  importance  of  these  different  kinds  of  in- 
vestigations ;  for  every  one  comprehends  it,  and  the 
gravest  authorities  have  pronounced  upon  this  mat- 
ter. Who  does  not  know  the  vast  importance  which 
our  illustrious  Cuvier  attributed  in  the  progress  of 
the  natural  sciences,  to  him  who  first  concieved  the 
idea  of  preserving  objects  in  alcohol  I  It  is  percepti- 
ble, indeed,  at  the  first  glance,  that  the  most  beauti- 


142  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

ful  and  valuable  of  libraries  for  the  physician  and 
naturalist  would  be  a  collection  of  artificial  subjects; 
or  still  better,  of  all  the  organs  of  the  bodies  of  ani- 
mals, and  of  man,  skilfully  prepared  and  preserved, 
without  any  alteration  of  the  properties  which  it  is 
important  to  know. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  a  collection  in  which  all 
the  organs  would  be  disposed  in  series,  where  they 
would  be  seen  passing  by  their  successive  degrees 
of  increment  and  decrement,  offering  their  differ- 
ences, individual  and  sexual,  their  points  of  contact 
and  separation  in  the  various  classes  of  the  animal 
kingdom,  their  anomalies,  their  pathological  affec- 
tions, their  intimate  structure,  &lc.,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted I  say,  that  such  a  collection  would  be  an 
inexhaustible  source  of  knowledge ;  it  would  acquire 
additional  value  by  the  addition  of  a  series  of  pieces 
representing  the  detailed  anatomy  of  each  of  the 
parts  involved  in  surgical  operations. 

But  this  library,  so  eloquent  and  instructive,  does 
it  exist  at  the  present  time  ?  Do  we  possess  the 
means  of  forming  such?  The  examination  of  the 
various  processes,  ought  to  furnish  us  with  an  an- 
swer to  this  question;  it  will  besides  enable  our 
readers  to  estimate  for  themselves  the  part  that  our 
method  may  enjoy  in  the  accomplishment  of  this 
object. 

And  first,  in  admitting  the  utility  of  engravings 
of  models  in  wax,  and  in  artificial  carton,^  in  white 
wood,  or  in  other  compositions  kept  secret  by  their 
authors,  we  feel  that  whatever  may  be  the  accuracy 

*  A  composition  of  papier  mache,  with  which  Dr.  .\zoux  has  so  beauti- 
fully represented  anatomical  subjects. —  TV. 


PREVIOUS    TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       143 

of  these  diiferent  representations,  they  never  can 
afford  but  an  incomplete  idea  of  tlie  thing  represent- 
ed. 1st.  Plates  and  engravings,  so  advantageous  for 
reference,  to  recal  the  study  made  upon  the  corpse, 
have  lost  their  importance  in  proportion  as  the 
means  of  obtaining  dead  bodies  have  become  more 
easy :  they  are  calculated  to  render  great  service 
and  contribute  to  the  progress  of  science  in  the  fine 
anatomical  works  of  Meckel,  Lauth,  Haller,  Zinn, 
Hunter,  Cruikshank,  Cowper,  Vic-d,  Azyr,  and  of 
numerous  other  learned  authors ;  at  the  present  day, 
even,  they  are  justly  esteemed  in  the  great  works  of 
MM.  Cloquet,  Bourgerie,  &c.  (The  plates  of  the 
work  of  M.  Bourgerie,  are  executed  with  remarka- 
ble care,  and  will  form  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
anatomical  works.)  But  they  occupy  a  secondary 
place,  only  to  aid  the  memory  ;  for  of  whatever 
good  they  may  be,  they  must  always  have  many  in- 
conveniences:  1.  They  fatigue  attention,  because 
it  is  necessary  so  often  to  multiply  the  figures, 
when  it  is  requisite  to  examine  an  object  under  all 
its  aspects  where  it  is  of  importance  to  perceive  it ; 
2.  The  organs  are  rarely  seen  of  their  natural  dimen- 
sions ;  3.  Whatever  may  be  the  exactitude  of  the 
drawing,  it  is  difficult  to  form  a  just  idea  of  the  re- 
lief and  dimension  of  the  organs  ;  4.  The  relations 
which  they  indicate  are  always  incomplete ;  it  is 
impossible  thus  to  represent  all  the  organs  in  their 
position,  and  in  their  natural  relations. 

2d.  Models  in  wax,  nearer  to  nature  than  plates, 
reproduces  objects  with  admirable  truth  for  the  eye, 
but  for  the  eye  only.  They  were  recently  esti- 
mated of  such  importance,  that  courses  on  modelling 


144  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

were  introduced  into  the  schools  in  many  cities  of 
France ;  nevertheless,  it  cannot  be  concealed  that 
pieces  thus  prepared  leave  much  to  be  desired  :  1. 
The  relations  of  the  organs  which  they  indicate  are 
very  limited  :  2.  It  is  necessary  then  to  multiply 
them  to  infinity,  if  it  be  desirable  to  represent  under 
various  points  of  view,  the  different  points  of  the 
human  body,  which  is  indispensable,  in  order  to 
comprehend  their  relations  and  connections :  3. 
And  still  the  mind  comprehends  with  difficulty  the 
totality  of  objects  viewed  in  a  great  number  of 
pieces  :  4.  They  cannot  be  handled  and  displaced 
as  is  requisite  for  study,  without  injury  to  them. 

3d.  Artificial  pieces,  which  possess  many  of  the 
inconveniences  of  wax  models,  are  more  proper  to 
give  a  knowledge  of  the  parts,  which  enter  into  the 
structure  of  man ;  nevertheless,  if  they  be  white 
wood,  like  the  subjects  of  Fontana,  or  in  Carton, 
like  those  of  Ameline,  or  of  M.  Azoux,i  they  leave 
much  to  be  learned  of  the  properties  which  are  re- 
quisite to  an  accurate  and  complete  knowledge  of 
the  parts.  Finally,  these  three  means  of  communi- 
cating linowledge  possess  their  degree  of  utility, 
but  they  can  never  support  a  comparison  with  the 
proper  matter  of  the  organs;  they  may  serve  to 
complete  a  museum,  but  never  to  form  one ;  so  we 
content  ourselves  to  mention  them  here,  in  order  to 
assign  them  a  rank.  Anatomical  pieces  which  place 
before  the  eyes  the  organs,  themselves,  are  then  the 

iTIie  subjects  prepared  by  M.  Azoux,  are  however,  more  proper  to 
facilitate  and  extend  the  study  of'anatomy;  they  are  far  superior  to  dried 
objects.  It  is  desirable  that  every  amphitheatre  should  possess  one  of 
these  subjects. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   145 

elements,  "  par  excellence,"  for  the  formation  of 
collections,  which  are  to  serve  as  studies  of  normal 
anatomy,  of  pathological  anatomy,  and  of  natural 
history,  but,  the  preparation  and  preservation  of  these 
pieces  is  a  new  science ;  we  ought  not  to  be  asto- 
nished at  it,  notwithstanding  the  advanced  state  of 
our  anatomical  knowledge,  if  we  reflect  on  the  diffi- 
culties of  all  kinds,  which  prejudice  excited  in  our 
predecessors.  It  is  stated,  it  is  true,  that  Ruysch, 
had  discovered  the  means  of  preserving  the  dead 
body,  with  all  the  appearance  of  life,  without  drying, 
with  florid  complexion,  and  supple  limbs.  But,  is  this 
really  the  fact  ?  and  have  we  not  good  reasons  to 
doubt  such  assertions,  since  no  collection  of  ana- 
tomical pieces,  prepared  by  this  process,  has  de- 
cended  to  \is,  and  no  explanation  has  confirmed  our 
knowledge  of  them  ? 

We  may  then  conclude,  that  the  means  of  pre- 
paring and  preserving,  does  not  date  much  earlier 
than  the  commencement  of  the  present  century. 
None  of  them,  however,  has  had  for  object  the  pre- 
servation of  the  entire  subject :  that  which  offers  us 
the  most  numerous  parts  united  in  the  same  prepa- 
ration has  only  a  reference  to  anatomy,  properly  so 
called ;  it  is  the  process  of  M.  Swan,  of  England, 
given  by  him  as  a  new  method  of  making  dried 
anatomical  preparations,  preserving  to  them  the  ap- 
pearance and  the  advantages  of  fresh  preparations, 
without  possessing  the  inconveniences  of  them  ;  this 
process  is,  as  we  shall  see,  only  an  application  of  the 
discovery  of  Chaussier,  on  the  preservative  proper- 
ties of  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury.     We  give  it 

19 


146  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

here,  before  passing  in  review  the  methods  of  pre-, 
paration  practised  for  each  organ  or  each  tissue. 

"  In  order  to  describe  the  manner  of  making  these 
preparations,  I  shall  only  take  the  arm  by  v^^ay  of 
example. 

"  The  member  should  be  selected  as  clear  form  fat 
as  possible.  A  solution  of  two  ounces  of  oxymu- 
riate  of  mercury,  in  half  a  pint  of  rectified  spirits  of 
wine,  must  be  injected  into  the  arteries,  and  the 
day  after  make  another  injection  with  the  same 
quantity  of  white  spirit  varnish,  to  which  must  be 
added  one-fifth  part  of  turpentine  varnish,  and  a 
small  quantity  of  vermillion.  The  limb  should  next 
be  placed  in  hot  water,  and  remain  there  until  it  is 
sufficiently  heated  for  a  coarse  injection  into  the 
arteries,  and  even  the  veins  if  necessary.  If  the 
veins  are  to  be  injected  they  had  better  be  emptied 
of  blood,  with  water,  before  forcing  into  the  arteries 
the  solution  of  oxymuriate  of  mercury,  because  there 
returns  always  by  the  veins  some  portion  of  this  in- 
jection which  coagulate  the  contained  blood,  and 
hinders  the  coarse  injection  from  passing  into  the 
smaller  branches. 

"  After  the  limb  has  been  injected  it  may  be  dis- 
sected. Every  time  the  work  is  left,  it  is  better 
that  the  parts  uncovered,  should  be  enveloped  in  a 
linen  cloth  wet  with  water ;  and  when  the  dissection 
is  recommenced  a  great  advantage  will  be  remarked, 
which  is  that  the  parts  injected  with  the  solution 
of  the  sublimate  will  suffer  very  little  alteration  in 
several  days,  and  are  found  in  the  same  state  in 
which  they  were  left,  whilst,  by  the  common  me- 
thod, in  one  or  two  days,  all  is  so  changed  that 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   147 

there  is  little  profit  in  seeing  what  has  been  done, 
and  if  the  dissection  is  long,  tliey  will  scarcely  be  re- 
cognised when  finished. 

"  Another  advantage  is  that  it  may  be  dissected 
any  where,  since  the  preparation  is  without  odour. 

"  When  all  the  parts  are  uncovered,  and  all  the 
fat  and  cellular  tissue  has  been  removed,  the  member 
thus  prepared  must  be  put  into  a  solution  of  two 
ounces  of  oxy muriate  of  mercury,  to  one  pint  of 
rectified  spirits  of  wine,  and  let  remain  entirely 
covered  with  this  for  at  least  fifteen  days,  for  it 
cannot  remain  too  long.  A  box  of  oak,  painted  white 
and  varnished  is  the  best  recipient  for  the  limb, 
whilst  in  solution  ;  the  cover  must  fit  closely,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  evaporation  of  the  spirits  of  wdne. 

The  member  must  be  withdrawn  every  two  or 
three  days,  and  any  remaining  cellular  tissue  is  to 
be  removed,  and  when  retured  to  the  tub  the  part 
which  previously  touched  the  bottom  must  be  placed 
uppermost.  The  best  thing  upon  which  to  place 
the  preparation,  when  withdrawn  from  the  solution, 
is  a  butcher's  tray,  after  having  been  well  oiled ;  with- 
out this  precaution  the  tray  imbibes  moisture,  from 
which  results  a  great  loss  of  the  solution.  When 
the  limb  has  remained  lonor  enoug^h  in  the  solution, 
it  is  to  be  taken  out,  to  be  painted  and  varnished. 

"Before  proceeding  to  these  operations,  the  member 
kept  in  a  state  of  extension,  is  suspended  and  dried, 
then  endued  with  white  varnish.  On  the  same  day  the 
nerves,  the  tendons,  and  tendinous  expansions,  ought 
also  to  be  varnished  ;  which  must  be  repeated  once 
a  day,  for  three  consecutive  days.  The  fifth  day, 
the  tendons,  ought  to  be  covered  with  a  layer  of 


148  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

yellow  varnish,  and  white  paint  mixed  in .  equal 
parts  ;  this  operation  is  to  be  repeated  the  seventh, 
eight,  and  ninth  day.  The  nerves,  must  also  be 
endued,  as  often  as  necessary,  with  a  mixture  of 
equal  parts  of  white  paint,  and  white  varnish. 

"  As  soon  as  the  muscles  have  become  stiff,  they 
may  be  painted,  taking  care  that  the  nerves  and 
tendons,  are  not  touched  by  the  paint.  Nearly  a 
month  after  the  limb  has  been  withdrawn  from  the 
solution,  those  of  the  nerves  and  tendons  that  are 
not  sufficiently  coloured  should  be  repainted  and 
varnished,  as  often  as  may  be  judged  necessary. 
But  always  allowing  a  day's  interval  between  each 
application  of  paint  and  varnish. 

"  These  operations  being  finished,  wash  lightly  the 
tendons  and  nerves  with  boiled  flax  seed  oil ;  this 
layer  being  dry,  give  a  second  over  the  whole  limb  ; 
finally,  several  layers  of  copal  varnish  will  termi- 
nate the  operation.  The  first  layer  of  copal  varnish 
to  be  applied  to  the  arteries  with  a  slight  addition 
of  Vermillion,  and  of  Prussian  blue,  for  the  veins. 

"  In  order  to  preserve  the  liver,  it  is  necessary 
first  to  inject  the  vena  porta  and  excretory  ducts 
with  white  varnish,  to  which  has  been  joined  one- 
fifth  of  turpentine  varnish,  and  some  coloring  matter, 
such  as  red  lead.  Then  make  the  coarse  injection, 
after  which  the  liver  is  to  be  put  into  the  solution 
for  a  least  fifteen  days ;  it  is  not  necessary  to  heat 
it  before  injecting.  The  ligaments  are  to  be  pre- 
pared in  the  same  manner  as  the  tendons. 

We  give  below  the  paints,  and  varnishes,  em- 
ployed in  the  preceding  preparations : 


PREVIOUS    TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       149 

1 . —  White   Var?iish. 

p!  Canada  balsam,  spirits  of  turpentine,  «. a.  3  3. 
Mastic  Varnish.  2  g. 

Put  the  whole  in  a  bottle,  and  agitate  until  it  is 
perfectly  mixed. 

2. — Mastic   Varnish. 

Jfe  Powdered  mastic.  4  ^. 

Dissolve  in  a  pint  of  spirits  of  turpentine. 
Agitate  daily,  until  the  mastic  is  dissolved. 

3. —  Yellow   Varnish. 

Infuse  one  ounce  of  gum-gutta  in  powder  in  eight 
ounces  of  spirits  of  trupentine  for  fifteen  days  ;  then, 
with  equal  parts  of  this  clear  drawn  liquor,  Canada 
balsam,  and  mastic  varnish,  form  the  yellow  varnish. 

4. —  White  Paitit. 

Three  ounces  of  white  lead,  and  an  ounce  of  spi- 
rits of  turpentine  serves  to  form  it. 

5. — Paint  for  the  muscles. 

It  is  made  of  Lac,  Prussian  blue,  and  white  var- 
nish, to  which  is  added  one  quart  of  turpentine  var- 
nish. 

6. — Red  Injection. 

tt.  Wax,  4  I. 

Copal  varnish,  ^  §. 

Red  lead,  \  §. 

Vermillion.  1  3. 
Melt  togrether. 


150  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

7. — Green  injection. 

^.  Wax,  4  I. 

Blue  dross,  2  §. 

Copal  varnish,  h  I. 

8. — Blue  i7ijection. 

f  To  form  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  add  to  the 
green  injection,  half  a  drachm  of  powdered  Prus- 
sian blue.  The  advantages  of  such  preparations  do 
not  answer,  in  any  degree,  to  the  promises  of  the 
title;  the  artificial  preparations  of  M.  Azoux  are 
much  more  preferable,  since  his  cartons  represent 
the  form  which  the  anatomical  pieces  of  Swan  have 
lost  by  desiccation. 

Section  1.^ — Generalities  of  the  operations  which 
precede  preservation. 

Desiccation  and  immersion  in  liquids  are  the  only 
means  of  preservation. 

The  choice  of  subjects  which  are  to  serve  for  these 
preparations,  says  M.  le  Docteur  Patissier,  is  not  a 
matter  of  indifference.  Young  subjects,  and  lean 
women,  are  preferable  for  the  nerves  and  bloodves- 
sels ;  adults,  and  thin  and  dry  old  men,  for  the  pre- 
paration of  bones  which  it  is  intended  to  articulate, 
and  which  it  is  desirable  to  obtain  in  their  greatest 
deo-ree  of  development;  individuals  of  an  athletic 
constitution  for  muscular  preparations. 

The  most  favourable  time  for  the  preparation 
and  preservation  of  anatomical  subjects,  is  generally 
during  a  cold  and  dry  winter,  or  the  ardent  heat  of 
summer ;  the  more  rapid  is  the  evaporation  of  the 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   151 

humidity  of  animal  matters,  the  more  sure  is  their 
preservation. 

The  method  of  preservation  ought  to  be  preceded 
by  some  other  operations,  such  as  dissection,  mace- 
ration, injection,  ablution,  corrosions,  ligature  of  ves- 
sels, separation  and  distention  of -parts. 

a.  Dissection. — It  consists  in  stripping  the  part 
which  it  is  intended  to  preserve,  of  the  tissues  and 
organs  which  are  foreign  to  it :  if  the  object  be  the 
preparation  of  muscles,  for  example,  these  organs 
are  left  alone  with  their  insertions  in  the  bones,  or 
rather,  the  vessels,  previously  injected,  preserve  their 
relations  with  the  muscles  and  the  bones.  Never- 
theless, in  the  dissection  of  the  hard  parts,  whether 
it  is  proposed  to  follow  the  branches  of  the  vessels 
and  nerves  which  penetrate,  or  are  distributed  in 
their  substance,  or  whether  it  is  desired  to  develope 
and  render  their  organization  more  apparent ;  it  is 
less  convenient  to  have  recourse  to  instruments  than 
to  chemical  re-agents,  which  bring  into  view  the 
parts  which  it  is  desirable  to  study.  When  the  ob- 
ject is  the  preparation  of  a  bone  only,  the  operation 
consists  of  two  parts,  excarnation,  and  etiolation,  the 
details  of  which  will  be  presented  in  the  article  upon 
bony  tissues. 

b.  Macerations  and  corrosions. — These  operations 
are  frequently  brought  into  use  by  the  naturalist : 
water,  acids,  alkalies,  volatile  oils,  &c.,  serve  to  pro- 
duce varied  effects  in  the  preparation  of  the  different 
tissues.  The  maceration  of  different  portions  of  the 
skeleton  is  produced  by  water.  The  employment 
of  other  liquids  has  for  object,  in  attacking  several 


152  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS. 

parts  which  they  dissolve,  to  expose  others  which  it 
is  desirable  should  be  left  bare. 

Thus,  in  order  to  absorb  the  grease  which  exudes 
from  the  skeletons  of  certain  fish,  or  of  bones,  the 
maceration  of  which  has  not  been  perfected,  it  is 
useful  to  steep  the  piece  in  a  marly  alluminous 
paste,  which  must  be  alternatively  put  to  dry  and 
soften  in  the  sun,  in  order  that  the  clay  may  absorb 
the  fetid  oils  with  which  the  bones  are  impreg- 
nated. 

In  order  to  dissolve  the  grease  with  which  certain 
parts  are  covered  some  time  after  their  preparation, 
as  happens  to  some  natural  skeletons,  it  is  often  ne- 
cessary to  steep  the  piece  in  an  alkaline  liquor,  or 
rather,  to  allow  it  to  macerate  for  some  weeks  in  a 
very  penetrating  volatile  oil.  It  is  only  by  the  aid 
of  such  processes  that  we  are  able  to  follow  ence- 
phalic nerves  in  many  of  the  cetacea,  although  these 
parts  present  in  these  animals  extremely  singular 
dispositions. 

It  is  with  the  same  view  that  should  be  macerated 
either  in  water  elevated  to  a  certain  degree  of  tem- 
perature, or  in  acid  liquors,  the  hard  tissues,  in  the 
interior  of  which  it  is  proposed  to  denude  certain 
parts.  Thus  the  nerves  and  vessels  of  the  roots  of 
the  nails,  the  horns,  the  skin,  cannot  be  well  ex- 
posed but  by  this  process.  The  canals,  which  tra- 
verse certain  bones,  cannot,  as  we  have  already 
shown,  be  easily  followed,  unless  the  peice  has  re- 
mained for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  in  an  acid  li- 
quor. 

Macerations  in  alkaline  and  etherial  liquors  are 


PREVIOUS   TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       ]  53 

still  of  great  assistance,  as  the  researches  so  happily 
conceived  and  executed  by  Bichat  have  proved. 

Finally,  corrosions  are  indispensable  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  parenchyma  from  injected  prepara- 
tions, when  it  is  intended  only  to  preserve  the  inte- 
rior network  of  vessels. 

The  following  are  the  attentions  which  this  ope- 
ration exacts :  The  injected  part  is  consigned  to  a 
vessel  of  pure  water  for  two  or  three  days,  which  is 
occasionally  to  be  renewed,  in  order  the  better  to 
disgorge  the  vessels  of  any  blood  they  may  contain. 
It  is  afterwards  to  be  solidly  fixed  on  a  piece  of  wax 
at  the  bottom  of  a  porcelain  vase,  pierced  with  holes 
near  the  base,  through  which  the  liquor  used  to 
wash  them  may  flow  off  without  deranging  the  ves- 
sels. This  corrosive  liquor  is  the  muriatic  acid,  or 
spirit  of  salt ;  the  aquafortis  of  engravers,  or  nitric 
acid,  may  be  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  first  time,  the  preparation  is  to  remain  two  or 
three  hours  in  this  acid,  which  is  then  drawn  off 
and  replaced  by  the  same  quantity  of  water,  which 
is  allowed  to  flow  on  it  in  small  streams.  This  wa- 
ter is  left  for  four  or  five  days,  according  to  the  sea- 
son, until  the  water  begins  to  be  covered  wdth  a 
scum,  and  the  preparation  begins  to  be  cottony  at 
its  surface  ;  the  liquor  is  poured  off  a  second  time, 
and  the  pot  or  vase  is  placed  beneath  the  cock  of  a 
fountain,  from  which  escapes  a  delicate  stream  of 
water,  which  will  carry  off  slowly  and  without 
shocks,  any  detached  parts ;  when  .it  is  perceived 
that  the  washing:  carries  off  no  more  animal  matter, 
the  acid  is  poured  into  the  pot,  of  which  the  open- 
ing is  to  be  reclosed  with  a  stopper  of  glass  or  por- 

20 


154  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

celain,  warmed  and  endued  with  wax.  This  opera- 
tion is  to  be  repeated  every  four  or  eight  days,  until 
the  tunics  of  the  vessels  are  altogether  denuded,  and 
the  injected  matter  is  seen  throughout/ 

c.  Injections. — These  are  evacuative,  repletive,  anti- 
septic, or  preservative.  The  first  have  for  object,  as 
their  name  indicates,  to  disembarrass  the  vessels  or 
hollow  organs,  of  the  matters  and  fluids  which  they 
contain ;  they  consist  of  water,  of  acids  very  much 
reduced,  of  diluted  alcohol,  &c.  Thus  it  is  service- 
able to  inject  water  or  alcohol  into  the  bloodvessels 
to  prepare  them  for  the  reception  of  the  repletive 
and  preserving  injections.  The  second  are  either 
definite  or  temporary. 

The  substances  employed  in  these  injections 
are  vehicles  for  colouring  matter.  The  nature  of 
the  vehicles  determines  that  of  the  colours,  which 
ought  to  be  as  far  as  possible,  analogous  to  those  of 
the  humors,  which  the  vessels  contained  during  life. 

As  vehicles,  those  fluids  which  always  retain 
their  fluidity  are  rarely  employed,  for  parts  thus  in- 
jected cannot  be  dissected,  and  they  are,  besides, 
apt  to  allow  the  colouring  matters  which  they  con- 
tain in  suspension,  to  be  deposited. 

Liquids  saturated  with  glue  or  gelatine,  made  use 
of  in  ordinary  injections,  have  the  inconvenience  of 
not  being  equally  solidifiable  at  different  degrees  of 
temperature,  or  harden  too  rapidly  by  cooling ;  they 
are  made  with  the  glue  of  commerce,  either  simple,  or 
mixed   with   gummy   or   saccharine   matter;  that 

1  These  details  on  maceration  and  corrosion,  are  extracted  from  a  work 
full  of  interest  of  Professor  Dumeril :  Essay  on  the  means  of  perfecting 
and  extending  the  anatomical  art. — (Paris,  1803.) 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   155 

commonly  used,  is  called  Flanders  glue,  although  it 
is  manufactured  in  Paris,  and  that  called  mouth 
glue,  which  only  differs  from  the  other  in  containing 
a  little  gum  or  sugar.  That  which  succeeds  best, 
because  it  melts  with  the  heat  of  the  hand,  and 
which  nevertheless  coagulates  at  a  temperature  of 
twenty-five  or  twenty-six  degrees  of  Reaumer's 
themometer,  which  is  one  of  the  highest  points  to 
which  our  atmosphere  attains,  is  made  of  the  mem- 
branes of  fishes,  or  icthyocolla.  An  ounce  is  to  be 
melted  in  a  sand-bath,  in  double  its  weight  of  water, 
and  mixed  afterwards  with  two  ounces  of  alcohol, 
previously  warmed.  In  these  sorts  of  gelatinous 
injections,  there  is  much  choice  in  the-  colouring 
matters.  All  those  that  are  ground  like  gum,  and 
which  are  used  in  miniature  painting,  and  in  painting 
'•a  la  gouache,"*  may  be  employed  ;  they  remain 
very  well  suspended. 

The  sticks  of  carmine  of  Delafosse,  and  the  car- 
mine lacks  of  Hubert,' may  then  be  used  with 
advantage  for  the  arteries ;  for  the  veins,  Prussian 
blue,  ground  in  vinegar,  and  the  white  of  zinc  of 
Antheaume,  or  that  of  oyster  shells  well  porphyrized, 
for  the  colour  of  metallic  oxide  is  subject  to  change 
in  animal  matter;  they  are  also  subject  to  the  in- 
convenience of  becoming  precipitated  by  repose  be- 
fore the  vehicle  cools,  and  thus  obstruct  the  smaller 
vessels. 

Liquors  which  can  be  made  solid  by  the  effect  of 
certain  re-actives,  offer,  on  this  account,  some  advan- 
tage.    It  is  thus,  that  it  is  serviceable  to  soak  for  a 

*Paintinq;S  where  colours  are  employed  diluted  with  water  or  (jtim.  —  Tr. 


156  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

day  or  two  in  a  solution  of  nut-galls  or  of  tannin, 
those  parts  injected  with  gelatine,  when  it  is  in- 
tended to  preserve  them  dry.  In  partial  injections 
of  lymphatic  vessels,  and  particularly  of  the  chyli- 
ferous,  cow's  or  goat's  milk,  may  be  made  use  of. 
When,  after  having  tied  the  thoracic  duct,  injections 
of  milk  have  been  made  into  all  the  vessels  in  which 
can  be  introduced  the  beak  of  a  glass  syringe,  or  of 
the  syringe  used  for  injecting  the  lacrymal  ducts, 
pour  on  the  surface  of  the  injected  parts  strong 
vinegar,  or  a  diluted  acid,  which  will  coagulate  the 
milk,  so  that  the  chyliferous  vessels  will  be  found 
filled  with  a  solid,  white,  and  flexible.  ^ 

The  most  common,  the  most  solid,  and  the  most 
convenient  injections,  are  made  of  fatty  and  resinous 
matter.  Volatile  oils,  balsams,  resins  dissolved  in 
alcohol,  fats,  wax,  and  the  most  ordinary  fixed  oils, 
are  principally  used.  These  different  substances 
are  combined,  and  the  compositions  of  them  are 
varied  according  to  the  nature  of  the  injections, 
which  it  is  desirable  to  prepare,  and  above  all,  ac- 
cording to  the  manner  which  it  is  proposed  to  pre- 
serve them. 

The  nature  and  the  preparation  of  the  colouring 
matters,  ought  also  to  vary  according  to  the  kind  of 
fatty  medium  which  is  used. 

The  volatile  oils  being  nearly  equally  penetrating, 
turpentine  is  generally  chosen,  because  it  is  cheaper. 
Neverthelessj  for  small  objects,  the  citron,  or  that  of 
a  species  of  lavender  (aspie  of  the  shops)  is  pre- 

1  There  are  some  specimens  in  tlie  museum  of  Natural  History  pre- 
pared by  this  process. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   157 

ferred,  on  account  of  their  odour,  which  are  besides 
not  very  expensive.  When  it  is  intended  to  inject 
only  with  one  of  these  oils,  which  makes  a  liquid 
matter  extremely  penetrating,  after  having  dissolved 
a  colouring  matter  previously  ground  in  a  fixed  oil, 
the  mixtut^  is  slightly  heated.  This  liquor  is  ge- 
nerally employed  to  render  perceptible  the  small 
vessels  of  membranes,  which  are  not  to  be  dissected, 
but  well  preserved  in  their  integrity.  If  it  is  in- 
tended to  inject  the  large  trunk  which  supplies  these 
membranes  towards  the  end  of  the  operation,  it  is 
necessary  to  inject  a  little  essence  of  varnish, 
charged  with  much  resin,  and  before  drying  the 
piece,  let  it  soak  a  day  or  two  in  an  aqueous  solu- 
tion of  the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury,  according  to 
the  process  of  Chaussier. 

The  matters  with  which  the  volatile  oils  are  to  be 
coloured,  should  be  previously  ground  with  the 
greatest  care.  It  is  easy  to  procure  those  which  are 
prepared  with  nut  oil,  and  which  are  sold  in  little 
bladders  to  be  employed  upon  palettes. 

Colours,  thus  prepared  and  intimately  amalga- 
mated with  fixed  oils,  remain  much  better  sus- 
pended ;  the  heaviest  oxides,  even  those  of  lead  and 
mercury,  are  not  then  subject  to  become  deposited. 

Resins,  dissolved  in  spirits  of  wine,  are  also  sold 
by  the  pint,  all  prepared,  under  the  name  of  varnish, 
and  in  general  are  not  costly.  Those  which  the 
anatomist  can  turn  from  the  ordinary  arts  to  his 
own  profits,  are  employed  principally  in  pieces 
which  it  is  intended  to  preserve  dry.  Perfect  suc- 
cess attends  the  varnish,  named  in  the  shops  fat. 


158  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

wood-red,  a  la  copale,  and  with  some  others  which 
remain  a  long  time  flexible. 

These  fluids  are  difficult  to  colour  ;  it  is  necessary, 
for  the  first,  to  grind  the  colouring  matter  with  es- 
sence, and  for  the  others  with  alcohol ;  and  to  in- 
corporate them  afterwards  with  varnish  after  having 
slightly  heated  them.  The  carmined  lakes,  thus 
suspended  in  fat  varnish,  produce  absolutely  the 
eff"ect  of  arterial  blood ;  this  colour  preserves  very 
well,  and  with  such  like  injections  it  is  unnecessary 
to  colour  the  surface  of  the  arteries. 

The  mixture  of  mutton  fat  or  of  suet,  of  white  or 
yellow  wax,  of  the  fixed  oils  of  olives,  nuts,  or  flax 
seed,  are  the  ordinary  matters  of  injections,  even  for 
those  destined  for  corrosions.  The  diflferent  de- 
grees of  solidity  or  softness  are  determined  by  the 
calculated  proportions  of  wax  and  oil,  and  by  the 
amalgam  of  resinous  and  colouring  matters. 

In  general,  in  this  sort  of  injections  it  is  advan- 
tageous to  introduce  beforehand,  a  small  quantity 
of  volatile  oil  mixed  with  the  fatty  matter  which  is 
to  serve  for  filling  the  vessels  ;  by  this  preliminary 
process  a  liquid  more  fluid,  more  penetrating, 
higher  coloured,  and  susceptible  of  cooling  more 
slowly,  is  driven  before  into  the  smaller  ramifications. 

I  could  here  transcribe  several  receipts  proper  to 
indicate  the  proportion  of  fatty  matters  among  them- 
selves ;  but  the  season  during  which  the  pieces  are 
made,  the  nature  of  the  ingredients  employed  on 
them,  will  occasion  the  proportional  quantities  to 
vary,  so  that  a  sketch  only  can  be  given  for  ob- 
taining a  matter  which  may  be  made  more  solid  or 
more  fluid  after  having  tried  it  by   cooling  some 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  TROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   159 

drops  separately.  Nevertheless,  here  is  one  of  those 
receipts : 

p.  Of  suet,  5  parts. 

Burgundy  pitch,  2     " 

Oil  of  olives,  or  of  nuts,  2     " 
Of  fluid  turpentine  and  colouring 

matter,  dissolved  in  volatile  oil,  1     " 

This  latter  part  should  not  be  mixed  until  the  li- 
quor is  well  melted  and  ready  to  be  put  into  the  sy- 
ringe, as  the  heat  will  volatilize  the  volatile  oils,  which 
will  become  disengaged  in  the  form  of  gas,  and 
cause  the  mass  to  occupy  a  very  great  volume. 

As  a  matter  of  injection,  the  dissolved  gum  elastic 
or  caoutchouc  may  be  employed ;  it  becomes  gela- 
tinized in  losing  a  portion  of  its  menstruum  by  de- 
siccation. After  leaving  this  matter  in  a  moist  place, 
and  having  well  washed  it,  in  order  to  clean  it  of 
the  clayey  matter  which  generally  impregnates  it, 
it  may  be  dissolved  in  volatile  oils  by  heating  it  in 
a  sand  bath,  with  a  moderate  fire  in  a  matrass  with 
a  long  neck  ;  adding  by  degrees,  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  oil  to  render  the  mass  very  fluid,  incorporat- 
ing- with  it  the  colourinor  matters  which  have  been 
previously  ground  in  an  essential  oil.  The  gum 
elastic  may  also  be  dissolved  in  ether,  but  this  pro- 
cess is  too  expensive  ;  and  as  a  matter  for  injecting 
this  liquor  is  not  preferable  to  the  other.  The  elas- 
tic injections  are  only  advantageous  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  parts  which  are  not  to  be  exposed  to  cutting 
instruments,  and  to  which  it  is  desirable  to  preserve 
a  certain  degree  of  suppleness,  as  in  the  injection  of 
the  cotyledons,  or  the  placenta  of  women.     This  li- 


160  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

quor,  it  must  be  confessed,  has  the  great  inconve- 
nience of  retaining  its  odour  a  long  time,  assuming 
its  solid  form  with  difficulty,  and  of  rendering  the 
preparations  pitchy,  and  rebellious  to  varnish,  and 
becoming  loaded  with  dust. 

There  are  certain  organs  which  may  be  injected 
with  solid  matters,  in  order  to  obtain,  in  relief,  re- 
sisting, but  coarse,  the  forms  of  interior  cavities. 
Such  is  the  injection  with  the  matter  which  forms 
the  stucco  paste,  or  of  fine  plaster  diluted  with  ge- 
latinous water,  which  gives  to  this  salt  a  greater  so- 
lidity when  it  takes  its  consistency.  This  gross  mat- 
ter is  employed  with  advantage  to  render  more  solid 
the  membranes  of  certain  cavities,  in  the  thickness 
of  which  it  is  desired  to  search  for  the  nerves.  Pure 
wax  does  not  present  the  same  advantage,  because 
it  exacts  more  heat,  and  contracts  more  by  cooling, 
although  it  is  more  applicable  in  case  it  is  proposed 
to  corrode  with  acids  all  the  fleshy  or  osseous  parts, 
in  order  to  become  acquainted  with  the  real  form  of 
their  interior  capacity  :  in  fine,  the  fusible  metallic 
mixture  of  Darcet  is  employed  under  different  cir- 
cumstances, but  it  is  not  more  useful.' 

Preservative  injections,  which  may  also  be  applied 
to  vessels  and  to  hollow  organs,  are  composed  of 
materials  to  which  have  been  attributed  preservative 
properties  to  the  tissues :  such  are  the  solutions  of 
mercurial  salts,  arsenical,  ferruginous,  &c.,  and  dif- 
ferent aromatic  and  spirituous  liquors. 

d.  Ablutions  — These  vary  according  to  the  end 
reposed  :  acids ;  these  serve  to  give  whiteness  to 

M.  Duraeril,  work  cited. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   161 

some  tissues  and  resistance  to  others :  alkaline ;  these 
clean  the  preparations,  divesting  them  of  the  muci- 
lage and  grease  which  they  contain.  In  one  word, 
the  action  of  aqueous  liquids,  of  oily,  alkaline,  saline, 
acid,  alcoholic,  is  necessary  before,  as  well  as  after 
dissection  to  preserve  the  preparations. 

When  these  preparations  are  left  a  longer  or 
shorter  time  in  water,  they  are  subjected  to  what 
is  called  a  degorgement ;  the  bath  ought  to  be  re- 
newed until  it  will  no  longer  receive  any  colouring 
matter. 

The  removal  of  grease  is  included  under  dissec- 
tion, maceration,  and  ablution. 

e.  Ligature  of  the  vessels. — This  is  made  with  a 
flat  silk,  or  silk  very  slightly  twisted,  during  the 
dissection,  or  immediately  after,  on  the  extremity  of 
the  vessel  which  contains  the  injection ;  it  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  injected 
matter. 

f.  Separation  and  distention  of  parts. — These  offer 
the  whole  surface  of  the  prepared  pieces  to  those 
agents  of  preservation  which  ought  to  be  applied  to 
them  ;  they  sustain  them,  and  preserve  them  from 
being  deformed.  Besides,  it  is  well  known,  that 
the  means  of  separation  and  distension  ought  to 
vary  according  to  the  form  of  the  organs ;  atmos- 
pheric air  suffices  for  hollow  and  thin  organs,  the 
stomach,  the  intestines,  the  bladder,  &c.  Under 
other  circumstances,  wool,  hair  cotton,  plaster,  &c., 
serve  better. 


21 


162  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

Sect.  2. — Means  of  Preservation. 

The  means  of  preservation  may  be  arranged  un- 
der two  principal  heads,  as  we  have  said,  according 
as  the  anatomist  intends  to  expose  his  preparations 
to  the  open  air,  or  to  preserve  them  from  insects 
and  render  them  more  transparent  by  the  aid  of 
certain  liquors,  in  which  it  is  intended  to  keep  them 
continually. 

Preservation  hij  desiccation. — When  applied  to 
soft  parts  is  only  applicable  to  anatomy,  properly  so 
called,  and  to  natu.ral  history;  it  cannot  be  em- 
ployed for  specimens  of  pathological  anatomy. 

Desiccation  is  preceded  by  a  more  or  less  pro- 
longed immersion,  according  to  the  thickness  of  the 
organs  in  acid  or  saline  solutions,  &c.;  that  which 
presents  the  greatest  advantage  for  the  nerves,  ac- 
cording to  Dumeril,  is  diluted  nitric  acid.  The 
salts  commonly  employed  present  some  inconveni- 
ences. Corrosive  sublimate  hardens  too  much,  and 
causes  the  parts  to  contract  on  each  other  ;  the  tri- 
ple sulphate  of  alumine,  (alum,)  often  chrystalizes  in 
drying,  which  produces  in  the  interior  of  the  piece, 
which  ought  to  be  pellucid,  saline  vegetations,  which 
not  only  elevate  the  organic  lamina,  often  render- 
ing the  surface  tuberculous,  but  further  deprive  the 
part  of  the  transparency  necessary  to  see  the  tex- 
ture of  it ;  the  muriate  of  soda,  (white  kitchen  salt,) 
attracts  the  humidity  of  the  air,  and  causes  the  var- 
nish to  scale  off,  which  can  have  no  hold  upon  the 
preparation.  Diluted  nitric  acid,  with  which  the 
parts  are  washed,  does  not  expose  them  to  these  in- 
conveniences :  the  preparation  preserves,  it  is  true, 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   163 

a  certain  degree  of  suppleness  ;  it  tarnishes  a  little, 
but  is  never  humid. 

The  numerous  means  used  for  disposing  the  pre- 
parations to  desiccation,  may  be  reported  under  four 
series : 

Alcohol,  where  expense  is  no  object,  is  preferable 
to  all  the  others ;  its  affinity  for  water  gives  it  the 
property  of  absorbing  humidity  from  anatomical 
pieces 

The  deuto-chloride  of  mercury,  the  proto-nitrate 
of  the  same  base,  the  solutions  of  acetate  of  lead,  and 
of  the  proto-nitrate,  merit  the  preference  among  me- 
talic  substances. 

Marine  salt  and  alum  are  nearly  those  alone  among 
the  earthy  salts  which  have  been  employed  for  this 
object.  M.  Breschet  advises  that,  according  to  the 
method  followed  by  the  tanners,  the  piece  be  per- 
mitted to  remain  for  several  days  in  powdered  sea 
salt,  and  to  immerge  it  afterwards  in  a  strong  solu- 
tion of  alum  for  fifteen  days,  when  it  is  to  be  with- 
drawn and  dried. 

In  fine,  tanning  is  still  a  preparatory  method  for 
desiccation. 

Desiccation. — Anatomical  pieces  may,  says  M. 
Doct.  Patissier,  be  dried  in  the  open  air,  in  a  stove, 
in  a  vacuum,  and  by  employing  substances  very 
avaricious  of  water,  and  in  a  bath  of  sand,  or  of  ab- 
sorbing powders ;  but  desiccation  by  means  of  an 
oven  is  the  best  process :  the  heat  of  the  oven  must 
be  neither  too  weak  nor  too  strong  ;  the  most  conve- 
nient temperature  is  that  of  45'^  to  55°  of  centigrade. 

When  the  parts  have  been  dried  by  one  of  the  pro- 
cessess  just  mentioned,    if  they  be  abandoned  to 


164  METHOD  OF  PRESERVING  SUBJECTS 

themselves,  they  would  become  injured  in  a  little 
time  by  humidity  and  insects.  There  remains,  then, 
some  care  to  be  taken  before  depositing  them  in  a 
cabinet;  they  should  be  v^^ashed  in  a  liquid  contain- 
ing a  preparation  of  arsenic,  or  of  sublimate,  or 
rather  by  applying  to  them  a  varnish  containing 
one  or  both  of  these  substances.  We  shall  not  re- 
consider here  the  compositions  of  varnishes,  having 
already  given  several  formulae  for  them  when 
speaking  of  Swan's  method,  and  we  shall  have  oc- 
casion to  refer  to  them  again  when  passing  in  review 
the  different  methods  of  preparing  objects  of  natural 
history. 

Preservation  in  liquids. — Anatomical  parts  are 
also  preserved,  and  more  advantageously,  in  liquids. 
We  shall  now  consider  the  acids,  or  acidulated 
waters,  alkalies,  salts,  oils,  spirituous  or  alcoholic 
liquors  ;  expose  their  advantages  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances, their  inconveniences  under  others. 

When  acids  are  employed  for  preserving  anato- 
mical parts  in  their  natural  state  of  suppleness,  cau- 
tion must  be  used  to  dilute  them,  with  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  water,  so  that  they  may  not  corrode  or 
harden  the  parts.  In  general,  it  is  advantageous  to 
allow  them  to  remxain  for  the  first  few  days,  in  a 
very  weak  acid,  and  not  place  them  in  the  prepared 
liquor,  until  they  have  ceased  to  make  any  deposit. 
The  objections  against  muriatic  acid  are,  that  it 
renders  the  surface  of  the  parts  gelatinous,  gluey, 
and  transparent ;  of  nitric  acid,  to  tarnish  and  con- 
tract them  ;  of  sulphuric  acid,  to  bleach  them.  All 
these  acids  decompose  the  parts  when  they  are  not 
sufficiently    diluted   with  water;  they   allow   the 


PREVIOUS    TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       165 

liquor  to  putrefy  or  to  freeze,  and  break  the  vessel 
vt^hen  they  are  too  weak.  The  proportions  are 
indicated  by  experience,  and  depend  upon  the 
nature  of  the  part  which  it  is  intended  to  preserve. 
It  is  those  parts  in  particular  which  are  loaded  with 
fat,  that  are  best  preserved  in  acid  liquors. 

In  general,  little  use  is  made  of  liquors  which 
hold  alkalies  in  solution  :  the  carbonates  of  com- 
merce are  preferable  ;  and  these  are  used  with  ad- 
vantage, when  it  is  necessary  to  keep  for  several 
•days,  before  dissection,  animal  parts  in  which  cor- 
ruption has  already  commenced. 

Those  salts  derived  from  the  combination  of  acids 
and  earths,  the  alkalies  or  metals,  may  be  employed 
like  the  acids  diluted  with  water.  They  are  not 
subject  to  the  same  objections.  The  nitrate  of  pot- 
ash, the  muriate  of  ammonia,  those  of  lime,  or  of 
soda,  are  very  proper  for  preserving  pieces  of  myo- 
logy ;  they  appear  even  to  reclaim  the  red  colour  of 
the  muscles,  when  these  solutions  are  strongly  sa- 
turated ;  but,  then,  they  are  liable,  some  of  them,  to 
liquify,  others,  to  effervesce  or  to  chrystalize  upon 
the  sides  of  the  jars,  and  even  on.  the  siirface  of  the 
parts  themselves,  which  is  a  very  great  inconve- 
nience when  it  is  wished  to  expose  the  parts  to  view. 

The  solution  of  the  triple  sulphate  of  alumine, 
(alum  of  commerce)  is  employed  with  the  same  ad- 
vantages ;  it  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  they 
are  more  proper  to  preserve  membranous  parts 
which  have  been  previously  allowed  to  macerate  a 
long  time.  In  general,  this  liquor  discolours  the 
parts,  and  deposits  at  length  on  the  sides  of  the  jar 
and  the  surface  of  the  piece  which  it  bleaches,  the 


166  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

white  earthy  matter  with  which  it  is  charged ;  this  is  a 
great  objection,  and  exacts  great  care  when  the 
atmosphere  freezes  suddenly. 

Chaussier  has  latterly  proposed  the  solution  of 
the  deuto-chloride  of  mercury,  in  distilled  water. 
This  liquor  is  very  useful,  but  it  bleaches  the  sur- 
face of  the  parts,  particularly  the  muscles;  it 
hardens,  and  attacks  the  instruments  when  new  re- 
searches are  attempted,  upon  parts  already  prepared. 
This  discovery,  however,  is  very  valuable  to  obtain  the 
mummification  of  certain  parts,  which  it  is  intended  • 
to  preserve  in  the  open  air.  In  order  to  obtain  a  solu- 
tion always  equally  saturated,  Chaussier,  i  has  pro- 
posed to  keep  at  the  bottom  of  the  liquor  two  or 
three  knots  of  fine  linen  enclosing  a  certain  quantity 
of  this  metalic  salt,  in  order  that  the  saturation  may 
always  be  complete. 

In  general,  we  repeat,  these  preservative  liquors 
are  attended  with  the  great  inconvenience  of  leaving 
suspended,  after  frosts,  the  albuminous  matters 
which  the  cooling  has  caused  to  precipitate  ;  so  that 
the  fluid  of  the  vessel  which  contains  the  prepara- 
tion becomes  clouded,  and  no  longer  permits  the  ob- 
ject so  be  clearly  seen.  Besides,  the  liquor  freezes, 
and  breaks  the  jar,  when  the  temperature  is  very 
low. 

The  volatile  oils,  from  whatever  vegetable  they 
may  have  been  extracted,  are  very  proper  for  the 
preservation  of  anatomical  objects;  they  lose  at 
length,  it  is  true,  their  transparency ;  they  thicken, 
precipitate  to  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  the  animal 

1  See  Bulletin  des  Sciences,  by  the  Pliiloniatic  Society,  Vol.  3,  6th 
year,  No.  3. 


PREVIOUS    TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANWAL.       167 

fluids  which  exude  from  the  object,  which  exposes 
them  to  corruption.  But  all  these  changes  are  sen- 
sible to  the  eye,  and  the  fault  is  easily  repaired 
when  perceived  in  time  to  renew  the  liquor,  which 
may  be  afterwards  re-distilled. 

It  is  never  useful  to  employ  these  liquids  for  the 
preservaiion  of  objects  loaded  with  fat,  for  they  dis- 
solve these  at  length  and  penetrate  them  entirely, 
chansfin":  their  form  and  colour. 

Volatile  oils,  and  particularly  turpentine,  which 
is  the  best,  are  employed  to  preserve  with  the 
greatest  success  certain  injections,  the  vehicles  of 
which  would  be  dissolved  in  alcohol,  and  all  the 
parts  whose  vessels  have  been  injected  with  colour- 
ed gelatine  ;  finally,  these  oils  are  used  in  all  cases 
where  it  is  desirable  to  perserve  the  transparency  of 
certain  membranes,  which  have  been  previously 
dried. 

Alcoholic  liquors  are  most  generally  used  for  the 
preservation  of  animal  substances,  if  they  are  more 
costly,  they  are  liable  to  fewer  objections.  Brandy, 
rum,  tafea,  are  coloured  by  a  resinous  substance, 
which  clouds  their  transparency,  and  which  is 
liable  to  be  deposited.  The  alcohol  of  cherries,  of 
grain,  of  cider,  or  of  wine,  is  preferred  at  present, 
which  can  be  procured  well  rectified  and  transpa- 
rent, and  which  may  be  afterwards  weakened  with 
distilled  water,  so  as  to  obtain  alcohol  very  limpid, 
marking  from  22^^  to  30°  of  Baume's  areometre. 

Some  years  since,  alcohol  was  still  employed,  in 
which  was  dissolved  certain  transparent  resins ;  such 
as  camphor,  but  it  has  since  been  ascertained,  that 
animal   substances   which   have  remained  m  this 


168  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

liquor,  contract  such  a  disagreeable  and  nauseous 
odour,  that  it  becomes  very  painful  to  keep  them 
long-  uncovered  for  examination,  consequently,  pure 
alcohol  is  preferred. 

Nevertheless,  when  it  is  desirable  to  preserve  the 
preparations  of  the  nerves,  it  is  better  to  put  a  few- 
drops  of  muriatic  acid  into  the  jar  along  with  the 
spirits  of  wine  :  this  mixture  bleaches  and  renders 
more  visible  the  nervous  fibres,  on  which  the  acid 
appears  to  act  more  specially.  The  yellow  tinge, 
which  the  parts  sometimes  assume  in  the  end,  may 
sometimes  be  removed  by  pouring  a  small  quantity 
of  muriatic  acid  into  the  jar  which  contains  them  : 
this  precaution  occasionally  gives  a  new  aspect  to 
the  parts. 

We  have  chosen  this  passage  of  M.  Dumeril's 
pamphlet,  because  it  gives  with  sufficient  accuracy 
all  the  liquids  employed  by  preparers,  and  because 
it  indicates  a  part  of  the  inconveniences  which  we 
have  experienced  from  them. 

We  shall  see  to  what  extent  the  more  recent  ad- 
ditions made  to  sublimated  alcohol,  of  hydrochlorate 
of  soda,  (chloride  of  sodium,)  of  the  hydrochlorate 
of  ammonia,  of  the  muriate  and  nitrate  of  alumine, 
can  contribute  to  the  wants  of  the  collector  of  patho- 
logical anatomy. 

Before  entering  into  this  critical  examination,  it 
remains  for  us  to  describe  the  processes  employed 
by  naturalists  for  preserving  the  different  species  of 
animals.  The  excellent  manual  of  M.  Boitard,  so 
useful  to  preparers,  will  furnish  us  with  this  infor- 
mation. 

Means  of  preparing  and  preserving  practised  by 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   169 

naturalists. — The  soap  of  Becoeur  enjoys  with  na- 
turalists a  great  reputation  as  a  preservative.  It  is 
this  preservative,  then,  that  we  should  recommend 
as  the  most  approved  by  experience  :  the  following 
is  the  receipt : 

^.  Arsenic  puberized,  2  ft,. 

Salt  of  tartar,  12  g. 

Camphor,  5  g. 
White  soap,  2  ih- 

Powdered  lime,  8  §. 

In  the  original,  four  ounces  of  lime  is  recom- 
mended, and  we  have  given  this  dose  in  our  first 
edition  ;  but  it  has  since  been  found  by  doubling  it, 
the  preservative  is  less  pasty,  and  less  difficult  to 
use,  more  abundant  and  equally  good. 

M.  Simon  thus  composes  the  preservative,  but 
he  adds  to  it  a  certain  quantity  of  corrosive  subli- 
mate, and  of  camphor  dissolved  in  spirits  of  wine. 
The  camphor,  thus  incorporated  with  the  preserva- 
tive, does  not  volatilize  so  easily  as  when  used  in 
powder. 

When  used,  a  sufficient  quantity  is  placed  in  a 
small  vessel,  and,  with  the  aid  of  a  hair  pencil,  it  is 
moistened  with  water  and  spread  upon  the  piece  to 
be  preserved. 

Some  naturalists,  fearful  of  the  danger  of  the 
daily  use  of  arsenic,  have  endeavoured  to  replace 
this  preservative  by  another  composition,  but  have 
never  succeeded  in  obtaining  results  equally  advan- 
tagous ;  but,  nevertheless,  in  order  to  render  this 
work  as  complete  as  possible,  and  to  facilitate  new 
researches,  we  thought  that  we  should  at  least,  in- 

22 


170  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

dicate  here,  the  different  processes  which  have  by- 
turns  been  imagined. 

In  my  cabinet  of  natural  history,  I  have  indi- 
cated, under  the  name  of  soapy  pomatum,  the  fol- 
lowing composition  : 

Jfc.  White  soap,  1  ib. 

Potash,  h  ife. 

Powdered  alum,  4  §. 

Common  water,  2  ib. 

Oil  of  petroleum,  4  §. 

Camphor,  4  §. 

M.  Mouton  de  Fontenille  proposes  a  tanning  li- 
quor thus  composed  : 

p.   Quinquina,  1  ^. 

Grenada  bark,  1 

Oak  bark,  I 

Gentian  root,  1 

Absynthium,  1 

Tobacco,  1 

Powdered  alum,  1 

Common  water,  2  ft- 

Boil  the  whole,  except  the  alum,  which  is  not  to  be^ 
added  to  the  liquor  until  withdrawn  from  the  fire ; 
it  is  to  be  put  into  a  well  corked  vial  for  use. 

M.  Mouton  thus  uses  his  liquor :  when  an  ani- 
mal is  skinned,  and  the  skin  divested  of  grease  as 
well  as  possible,  the  internal  surface  is  to  be  moist- 
ened with  the  tanning  liquor  until  it  is  perfectly  im- 
pregnated ;  if  it  be  a  dry  skin,  it  is  to  be  moistened 
in  the  same  manner  until  it  is  softened. 

An  author  has  recommended,  under  the  name  of 
antiseptic  powder,  the  following  composition  : 


PREVIOUS    TO   THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       171 

^.  Arsenic,  ^  it- 

Calcined  alum,  1^  lb- 

Purified  sea  salt,  5  ib- 

The  whole  to  be  reduced  to  a  fine  powder  and  well 
mixed. 

We  advise  that  powdered  arsenic  never  be  used, 
because,  by  volatilizing,  it  might  penetrate  the  lungs 
and  cause  mortal  ravages.* 

The  preparor  Nicholas  recommends,  in  certain 
cases,  a  composition  which  ought  to  be  here  men- 
tioned, not  to  advise  the  use  of  it,  on  the  .contrary, 
to  advise  the  rejection  of  it ;  for  far  from  driving  off 
the  insects,  it  attracts  them;  he  calls  it  gummy 
paste. 

{t.  Colocynth,  2  3. 

Gum  Arabic,  4  I. 

Amidon,  6  5- 

Cotton,  hashed  fine,       "  1  a- 

Other  preparors,  without  passing  any  thing  over 
the  skin,  confine  themselves  to  the  use  of  the  follow- 
ing powder  : 

P.  Calcined  alum,  3  §. 

Flour  of  sulphur,  1 

Black  pepper,  h 

Powdered  tobacco,  ^ 

Powdered  sabine,  h 

Powdered  camphor,  3  3. 

The  whole  to  be  finely  powdered  and  well  mixed. 

*  In  this  country,  powdered  arsenic  is  almost  exclusively  used  by  pre- 
parors— and  is  alone  sufficient  for  this  purpose— the  arsenical  soap  is  not 
sufficiently  strong  ;  no  fatal  effects  have  been  known  to  follow  its  use; 
care  should  be  taken  to  wash  frequently. — Tr. 


172  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

Some  amateurs  content  themselves  in  passing 
over  the  internal  surface  of  the  skin  they  wish  to 
preserve,  a  good  layer  of  melted  suet  mixed  with 
a  small  quantity  of  corrosive  sublimate ;  it  appears 
that  they  have  obtained  some  ad  vantageous  results, 
which  authorises  further  experiments  ;  it  has  been 
remarked,  that  suet  is  never  attacked  by  insects ; 
perhaps,  if  it  were  combined  with  some  mineral 
matter  less  dangerous  than  the  sublimate,  results  as 
satisfactory  as  those  from  the  arsenical  soap  of  Be- 
coeur  might  be  obtained. 

Such  are  the  preservatives  which  have  been  em- 
ployed in  France,  but  which  do  not  possess,  to  any 
extent,  the  efficacy  of  the  arsenical  soap  of  Becoeur. 
It  appears  that  the  Germans  employ  others  to  which 
they  attribute  the  same  qualities,  which  appears  to 
us  very  doubtful  in  all  cases  :  they  may  be  mentioned 
here. 

Naumann,  in  the  first  place,  gives  a  method  which 
appears  to  us  vicious,  although  he  invokes  in  its  fa- 
vour his  own  experience.  After  having  said  that 
the  best  method  of  preserving  is  to  close  hermeti- 
cally, stuffed  animals  in  boxes,  he  adds  :  "  I  do  no 
more  for  skins  which  are  to  travel  in  boxes,  than 
powder  them  with  the  following  composition : 

"  Of  lime  decomposed  in  the  air,  and  finely  sifted, 
two  parts ;  of  saxony  tobacco,  also  sifted,  one  part. 

"Hoffman  approves  of,  and  recommends  the  follow- 
ing powder : 

J&  Sal  ammmoniac,  I  5. 

Calcined  alum,  ^  3- 

Saxony  tobacco,  '  3  5. 

Aloes,  '  1  3- 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL   173 

"  The  librarian  of  Jena,  M.  Theodore  Thon,  pro- 
poses the  following  powder,  as  better  for  preserving 
animals  in  the  open  air. 

Cobalt,  1  3. 

Alum,  2  5. 

"  To  be  powdered  and  mixed.  Before  employing  this 
powder,  give  a  layer  of  essence  of  pine,  (turpentine,) 
in  order  that  it  may  adhere  better  to  the  interior  of 
the  skin.  If  the  latter  be  very  greasy,  add  an  ounce 
and  a  half  of  lime  decomposed  in  the  air  and  sifted. 
"  Among  the  preservatives  which  this  naturalist 
has  investigated,  we  find  a  very  simple  one,  which 
he  says,  is  very  effectual  for  mammifera :  the  fol- 
lowing is  its  composition : 

Cobalt  in  very  fine  powder,  4  5. 

Alum,  4  E. 

"  The  same  naturalist  recommends  another  com- 
position as  very  good,  and  which  I  think  would  be 
worth  making  a  trial  of  for  large  animals,  which 
would  be  very  expensive  done  with  arsenical  soap. 
Very  fat  bitument  is  to  be  melted,  in  a  strong  solu- 
tion of  soap- water,  until  the  whole  forms  a  sort  of 
clear  broth ;  the  interior  of  the  skin  is  to  be  endued 
with  this  mixture,  which  costs  very  little. 

"  Preservatives  in  Liquors. 

"  Liquors  are  employed  in  baths,  in  lotion,  in  fric- 
tion, in  injection,  and  finally,  in  permanent  baths, 
in  which  certain  objects  are  always  to  remain ;  we 
shall  now  treat  of  these  four  methods  of  preserva- 
tion. 


174  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

'' Of  the  Bath. 

"In  many  animals,  and  particulary  in  the  mammi- 
fera,  the  skin  has  such  a  thickness,  such  a  degree 
of  intensity,  that  the  arsenical  soap  can  not  pene- 
trate it  sufficiently  in  order  to  preserve  it  perfectly ; 
it  is  then  that  the  bath  becomes  an  indispensable 
operation.  In  penetrating  the  skin  which  is  left  to 
macerate  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  the  preservative 
molecules  with  which  it  is  saturated  enters  all  its 
pores,  and  preserves  it  for  ever  from  the  attacks  of 
insects. 

"  The  following  is  the  composition  of  the  bath  em- 
ployed by  the  naturalists — preparers  of  Paris. 

■^  Common  water,  5  ft. 

Alum,  1  ib. 

Sea-salt,  k  ft,. 

"  This  mixture  must  be  boiled  until  it  is  all  en- 
tirely dissolved,  and  when  the  liquor  has  cooled, 
plunge  the  skins  into  it ;  those  of  the  size  of  a  hare, 
or  thereabouts,  need  not  remain  longer  than  twenty- 
four  hours  ;  those  of  the  larger  animals  must  mace- 
rate a  longer  or  shorter  time,  according  to  their 
thickness ;  from  eight  to  fifteen  days  would  not  be 
too  long  for  a  buffalo  or  a  zebra.  At  the  museum 
of  Natural  History  of  Paris,  they  very  rarely  make 
use  of  this  composition  ;  they  are  satisfied  to  mace- 
rate the  skins  in  spirits  of  wine,  which  they  keep  in 
hogsheads  for  that  purpose.  Without  attempting  to 
criticise  this  method,  which  may  have  its  advantages, 
we  think  that  they  might,  perhaps,  in  this  particular, 
follow  the  English  naturalists,  and  add,  like  them, 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   175 

a  small  quantity  of  corrosive  sublimate  dissolved  in 
spirits  of  wine. 

"  Nevertheless,  as  we  ought  to  be  impartial,  we 
should  mention  here  the  dangers  attendant  on  the 
use  of  this  terrible  mineral,  so  much  boasted  by  Sir  S. 
Smith,  president  of  the  Linnean  Society  of  London. 
When  there  is  occasion  to  mount  a  subject  prepared 
with  sublimate,  whether  it  has  been  employed  in 
powder  or  in  solution,  in  arranging  the  animal 
there  arises  a  dust,  which  penetrates  the  nostrils, 
and  may  cause  serious  accidents.  Arsenic,  though 
much  less  energetic,  is  not  even  free  from  this  in- 
convenience. Thus  it  is  only  with  much  precau- 
tion that  preparers  should  handle  preparations  in 
skins  which  they  receive  from  foreign  countries,  the 
substances  used  in  the  preparation  of  which  they  are 
ignorant. 

"  Let  us  now  pass  to  the  other  preservatives  in 
liquor,  less  generally  employed,  at  the  present  time, 
although  some  of  them  may  be  very  useful.  The 
following  is  the  tanning  liquor  which  I  have  pro- 
posed in  the  Cabinet  of  Natural  History  : 

Tan,  or  oak  bark,  1  ife. 

Powdered  alum,  4  g. 

Common  water,  20  tb- 

"An  ancient  author,  the  Abbe  Manesse,  composed 
his  bath  in  the  following  manner : 

Alum,  1  ife. 

Sea-salt,  2  §. 

Cream  of  tartar,  1  3. 

Common  water,  4  ft. 

"  Liquors  employed  externally  as  lotion. 


176  METHOD    OF     PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

"  When  an  animal  has  been  mounted  or  prepared, 
and  fears  exist  less  the  insect  should  attack  it,  this 
may  be  prevented  by  M^ashing  its  feathers,  its  hairs, 
or  its  naked  skin,  with  one  of  the  liquors  which  we 
are  about  to  indicate.  Animals  exposed  to  the  open 
air  have,  above  all,  need  of  being  thus  treated,  and 
yet,  by  an  inconceivable  negligence,  many  amateurs 
permit  their  collections  to  be  devoured,  for  the  want 
of  employment  of  a  means  both  simple  and  easy. 

"  1.  The  essence  of  wild  thyme,  has  been  recently  ad- 
vantageously employed ;  in  "using  it  the  feathers  or 
hairs  of  an  animal  are  to  be  raised  every  little  dis- 
tance by  a  long  needle,  and  at  their  bases,  that  is  to 
say,  the  skin,  is  to  be  touched  by  means  of  a  hair 
pencil  with  a  drop  or  two  of  the  essence,  and  when 
this  has  been  well  imbibed,  the  hairs  or  feathers  are 
to  be  replaced,  their  extremities,  never  being  in  con- 
tact with  the  liquor,  cannot  become  tarnished. 

"2.  Essence  of  turpentinehas  heen  recommended 
by  almost  all  authors,  and  yet,  when  made  use  of 
it  is  perceived  with  astonishment  that  great  incon- 
veniences result ;  it  never  dries  upon  the  feathers, 
which  it  greases  and  soils  in  spite  of  every  precau- 
tion, the  spots  spreading  and  enlarging  like  oil ;  be- 
sides this,  it  forms  a  species  of  glue,  which  arrests 
and  fixes  the  dust  in  such  a  manner  that  no  subse- 
quent effort  can  remove. 

"  3.  Liquor  of  Sir  S.  Smith. — This  intelligent  Eng- 
lish naturalist,  president  of  the  Linnean  Society  of 
London,  having  turned  his  attention  to  the  preser- 
vation of  prepared  objects,  already  classed  in  collec- 
tions, has  concluded  that  there  cannot  be  a  more 


PREVIOUS    TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.        177 

efficacious    means    employed    than    the    following 
liquor. 

{fe  Corrosive  sublimate,  2  3. 

Camphor,  2  5. 

Spirits  of  wine,  lib. 

"  In  large  animals  it  is  applied  by  means  of  a 
sponge,  which  is  passed  at  different  times  over 
the  whole  exterior  of  the  animal,  until  it  is  perfectly 
impregnated,  and  the  liquor  has  penetrated  to  the 
skin.  In  small  animals  a  hair  pencil  is  used,  and 
the  operation  is  performed  in  the  same  manner. 
Whether  the  individual  submitted  to  this  prac- 
tice be  recently  prepared,  or  whether  it  has  long  re- 
mained in  a  collection,  it  must  be  permitted  to  dry 
perfectly  before  placing  it  in  a  cabinet. 

"  In  France  this  dangerous  composition  is  replaced 
by  the  preservative  in  very  small  quantities  diluted 
with  water. 

"4:.  The  hitter  spirituous  liquor,  recommended  by 
other  authors,  is  thus  composed : 

Jfc.  White  soap,  1  5. 

Camphor,  2  3. 

Colocynth,  2  §. 

Spirits  of  %vine,  2  tb- 

"  The  whole  is  to  be  subjected  to  cold  infusion  for 
several  days  in  a  vessel  hermetically  sealed,  fre- 
quently shaking  the  vessel  during  this  interval,  and 
allowed  to  strain  through  unglazed  gray  paper ;  when 
it  is  thought  that  the  infusion  is  done,  it  must  be  put 
into  bottles  equally  well  corked,  and  used  after  th&^ 
same  manner  as  the  preceding. 

"5.    Varnish  is  employed  only  on  the  naked  skin 
23 


178  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

of  reptiles  and  fishes,  to  which  it  restores  a  portion 
of  its  splendour  ;  it  must  be  absolutely  colourless, 
and  perfectly  transparent.  In  order  to  obtain  it 
thus,  it  must  be  prepared  by  dissolving  fine  and 
new  turpentinein  spirits  of  wine,  which  must  them- 
selves possess  the  qualities  above  mentioned.  It  is 
to  be  applied  with  a  pencil  of  squirrel's  tail,  or  the 
tail  of  a  martin,  and  the  object  is  left  exposed  to  the 
air,  sheltered  from  the  dust,  if  it  be  wished  to  has- 
ten its  desiccation. 

^'•Liquors  employed  m  Injections. 

"Injections  are  more  generally  employed  for  the 
preparation  of  the  eggs  of  birds,  for  which  it  is  de- 
sirable to  secure  a  long  preservation ;  although  by 
a  very  bad  method,  they  have  also  been  used  for 
the  desiccation  of  very  small  animals. 

''  In  order  to  decompose  the  flesh  of  a  foetus  already 
formed  in  an  egg^  recourse  is  had  to  a  strong  solu- 
tion of  a  fixed  alkali,  of  soda,  of  tartar,  or  to  ether. 

"  Liquors,  in  which  objects  are  preserved  rvhich  do 
not  admit  of  drying. 

"  The  qualities  which  a  liquor  ought  to  possess,  in 
which  objects  of  natural  history  are  placed,  are,  in- 
dependently of  that  of  preserving  from  decomposi- 
tion :  1 .  to  be  colourless,  that  they  may  not  tarnish 
the  contained  objects ;  2.  not  to  attack  by  corrosion 
the  proper  colours  of  the  object ;  3.  to  be  perfectly 
transparent,  that  the  contained  objects  may  be  visa- 
ble  through  the  vase  which  encloses  them ;  4.  the 
power  to  resist  frost,  in  order  that  they  may  not 
break  the  jar  which  holds  them. 


PREVIOUS   TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       179 

"1.  Spirits  of  wine,  of  from  fourteen  to  eighteen 
degrees  of  the  areometer  of  Baume,  appears  to  be 
the  liquor  which  best  fulfils  all  these  conditions ; 
the  other  alcohols,  such  as  those  from  potato,  from 
grain,  from  sugar,  &c.,  have  the  same  qualities; 
but  a  serious  inconvenience  is  the  high  price  of  all 
of  them,  and  this  reason  alone  is  an  inducement  to 
look  for  other  compound  liquors,  capable  of  replac- 
ing them  with  more  or  less  advantage. 

"  2.  Nicholas  recommends  the  following  composi- 
tion : 

Very  pure  water,  2  ib. 

Alcohol,  1  ft. 

Sulphate  of  alumine,  6  §. 

"  The  English  naturahst,  George  Graves,  in  a 
work  publislied  in  London,  seven  years  ago,  indi- 
cates a  liquor  which  has  much  analogy  with  the 
preceding  : 

Alum,  8  §. 

Common  water,  1  ft- 

Alcohol,  i  ft- 

"  The  following  is  the  method  of  preparing  this 
mixture  :  the  alum  is  pulverised  and  put  into  a  ves- 
sel capable  of  resisting  heat ;  water  being  heated  to 
ebullition  is  poured  upon  the  alum  ;  when  cool,  it 
is  to  be  filtered  through  gray  paper,  and  then  mixed 
with  alcohol.  The  same  author  recommends  an- 
other liquor,  thus  composed,  but  of  which  the  mix- 
ture is  made  cold. 

Common  water,  1  ft. 

Alcohol,  1  ft. 

Alum,  12  5. 


180  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

"  4.  The  Abbe  Manesse,  after  various  trials,  more  or 
less  successful,  has  published  the  result  of  his  ex- 
periments ;  he  proposes  as  the  best  liquor,  one  com- 
posed as  follows  : 

Alum,  1  lb. 

Nitre,  1  lb. 

Sea  salt,  1  lb- 

Common  water,  4  ft 

Alcohol,  1  ib- 

"  The  water  used  should  be  distilled,  so  as  to  be 
freed  of  any  foreign  matter ;  the  alum  should  be  the 
most  transparent  that  could  be  obtained,  and  the 
salt  also  should  be  purified  before  use.  The  liquor 
may  be  made  cold,  but  it  is  always  better  to  boil  it, 
with  the  precaution  not  to  add  the  spirits  of  wine 
until  it  has  cooled. 

"  All  these  liquors  are  inferior  to  spirits  of  wine,  in- 
asmuch as  they  are  liable  to  freeze." 

After  having  given  this  long  list  of  the  known 
means  of  preserving,  and  given  in  detail  the  repre- 
sentation of  authors,  it  remains  for  us  to  judge  of 
them,  to  determine  their  merit,  and  the  degree  of 
confidence  that  ought  to  be  accorded  to  each,  under 
the  triple  point  of  view  of  the  preservation  of  objects 
of  normal  anatomy,  of  pathological  anatomy,  and  of 
natural  history. 

1.  Process  of  desiccation. — It  can  be  of  no  utihty 
for  pathological  anatomy,  because  it  changes  en- 
tirely the  aspect  and  texture  of  parts,  and  in  most 
cases  it  leaves  no  traces  of  the  alterations  which  it 
is  important  to  know.  For  normal  anatomy,  these 
preparations  are,  and  always  must  be,  from  the  sim- 


PREVIOUS    TO    THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       181 

pie  fact  of  desiccation,  a  feeble  resource,  and  really 
much  inferior  to  the  artificial  subjects  of  M.  Azoux ; 
for  this  ingenious  preparation,  if  it  has  many  of  the 
faults  of  dry  anatomy,  the  objects  are  not  so  de- 
formed as  scarcely  to  be  recognised. 

Further,  each  of  the  preparations  which  tend  to 
desiccation  has  its  particular  inconvenience :  thus 
those  of  the  deuto-chloride  are  numerous,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and  as  have  re- 
marked in  this  the  authors  whom  we  have  cited. 
We  may  add  that  the  salts  of  mercury,  of  copper, 
and  of  lead,  which,  in  combining  with  gelatine,  form, 
it  is  true,  an  inalterable  compound,  have  a  great  af- 
finity for  hydrosulphuric  acid,  and  that  there  re- 
sults from  this  affinity,  a  necessary  deterioration  of 
the  objects,  colouring  them  black.  Sea  salt  does 
not  possess  durable  preservative  properties  ;  and  its 
affinity  for  water  even  facilitates  the  decomposition 
of  the  dried  subjects  which  contain  it.  Alcohol  is, 
doubtless,  a  good  means,  but  it  requires  to  be  fre- 
quently renewed,  until  by  its  affinity  for  water  it 
absorbs  all  which  the  organs  contain ;  but  alcohol 
costs  forty  cents  a  quart,  and  loses  always  by  evapo- 
ration. Besides,  parts  thus  prepared,  are  not  less 
deformed  than  other  dried  parts,  when  subjected  to 
desiccation. 

The  naturalist  finds  in  the  soap  of  Becoeur,  in 
other  preparations  containing  arsenic,  the  deuto- 
chloride  of  mercury,  alum,  &c.,  sufficiently  good 
means  of  drying  or  of  tanning  the  skin  and  other 
animal  tissues.  But,  as  M.  Boitard  has  remarked, 
these  preparations  are  not  without  their  inconveni- 
ences. 


182  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS. 

What  have  I  to  offer  the  anatomist  who  believes 
in  the  utiUty  of  dried  preparations,  to  the  naturalist 
whom  a  real  necessity  often  forces  to  recur  to  them  ? 
My  liquid,  employed  as  a  bath  or  injection,  without 
either  danger  or  inconvenience,  and  wliicJi  costs  only 
two  or  four  cents  the  quart. 

I  shall  give  here  an  example  of  injection  ;  a  corpse 
is  injected  by  the  carotid  with  from  five  to  seven 
quarts  of  the  acetate  of  alumine  at  20°,  and  contain- 
ing in  solution  about  two  ounces  (fifty  grammes)  of 
arsenic  acid.  Four  days  after  this  injection,  if  it  is 
intended  to  prepare  the  large  and  small  vessels,  in- 
ject by  the  aorta  half  a  quart  of  a  mixture,  equal 
parts,  of  the  essence  of  turpentine  and  essence  of 
varnish  ;  finally,  make  a  single  cast  of  a  hot  injec- 
tion of  a  mixture  of  suet  and  of  rosin,  in  equal  parts, 
coloured  with  cinabar  for  the  arteries,  and  with  a 
black  or  blue  colour  for  the  veins.  Then,  the  corpse, 
or  the  part  of  the  corpse  which  it  is  intended  to  pre- 
serve, is  prepared  and  dissected  at  leisure,  accord- 
ing to  the  wish  of  the  operator. 

When  the  body  has  been  injected,  as  above  des- 
cribed, the  preparation  which  is  made  of  it  easily 
dries  in  the  open  air  from  the  month  of  May  to  the 
month  of  October ;  during  the  winter  it  is  necessary 
to  deposit  it  in  an  oven,  or  in  a  heated  chamber. 
When  the  desiccation  is  slow,  or  the  moisture  is  ex- 
cessive, the  byssus  sometimes  developes  on  its 
surface,  but  this  may  be  washed  off,  and  a  layer  of 
varnish  will  prevent  new  vegetations.  This  prepa- 
ration will  be  certainly  superior  to  any  contained  in 
cabinets  of  anatomy. 

In  support  of  this  assertion,  I  will  cite  an   au- 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   183 

thentic  fact,  that  of  a  woman  whose  body  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  examination  of  the  commissioners  of 
the  Institute  and  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine, 
appointed  to  prove  the  value  of  my  process. 

On  the  10th  of  May,  1834,  a  woman  died  in  the 
wards  of  M.  Majendie,  at  the  Hotel-Dieu ;  the  body 
was  injected  the  next  day  with  the  acetate  of  alu- 
mine,  at  the  termination  of  this  operation,  it  re- 
mained fresh  until  the  15th  of  January,  1835,  when  it 
dried  without  experiencing- any  alteration.  The  com- 
missioners of  the  two  Academies  made  experiments 
upon  this  body,  at  different  periods.  On  the  15th 
of  January,  1836,  M.  Gueneau  de  Mussy,  to  assure 
himself  of  the  state  of  the  cerebral  substance,  de- 
manded the  head  to  be  opened,  I  profited  by  this 
occasion  to  take  off  the  hairy  scalp.  The  same  day, 
M.  Breschet,  desiring  toknow  what  would  result  from 
the  exposure  of  this  corpse  to  the  open  air,  it  was 
suspended  beneath  the  shed  of  the  dissecting  rooms 
(ecole  pratique.) 

Ten  months  after,  in  the  month  of  November  of 
the  same  year,  it  had  not  experienced  any  altera- 
tion. At  this  period,  M.  Gaucherant,  inspecting 
overseer  of  the  ecole  pratique,  wishing  to  terminate 
the  experiment,  the  body  was  sent  to  the  cemetery. 

The  right  arm  and  forearm,  the  only  parts  re- 
maining untouched,  after  the  experiments  of  MM. 
the  commissioners,  were  amputated  hy  myself.  I 
preserve  this  piece,  as  well  as  the  hairy  scalp  ;  I  can 
show  them  to  anatomists  to  be  compared  with  all 
the  preparations  obtained  by  other  processes ;  none  of 
them,  I  am  convinced  will  be  pronounced  comparable 
to  mine.     The  hairs  remain  so  firmly  attached  to  the 


184  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

scalp,  that  a  strong  pull  will  not  detach  them ;  I  am 
quite  sure  that  the  injection  has  penetrated  even  to 
the  capillary  tubes  of  these  organs ;  my  experiments 
upon  cats,  dogs,  and  birds,  have  demonstrated  the 
penetration  of  my  liquid  into  the  horny  organs,  hairs, 
or  feathers,  which  clothe  the  skin  of  these  animals. 
These  facts  will  demonstrate  all  the  services  which 
it  is  capable  of  rendering  naturalists.  Finally,  no 
process  of  tanning  could  give  to  the  internal  surface 
of  the  skin  an  aspect  more  satisfactory  than  that 
which  offer  other  preparations  deposited  in  my  ca- 
binet 

2.  Preservation  in  liquids. — The  different  preser- 
vative liquids  produce  effects  very  different  from 
the  process  of  desiccation ;  however,  all  those  em- 
ployed up  to  the  present  day,  possess  serious  incon- 
veniences, as  any  one  may  be  convinced  by  reading 
the  very  commendable  passages  w^hich  we  have  ex- 
tracted from  the  pamphlet  of  M.  Dumeril.  We 
shall  point  out  some  others  which  he  has  omitted. 

{a.)  Nitric  Acid,  the  only  one  of  all  the  acids,  that 
can  be  of  any  use  to  the  anatomists,  preserves  well, 
it  is  true,  the  preparation  of  the  nerves,  hardening 
their  structure,  and  increasing  their  nacreous  white 
colour ;  but  it  deteriorates  all  the  other  structures, 
it  dissolves  the  gelatine,  softens  the  muscles,  and 
deprives  the  bones  of  their  calcareous  salts ;  it  can- 
not be  other  than  deleterious  to  objects  of  patholo- 
gical anatomy,  and  natural  history. 

{b.)  Alcohol,  is  more  servicable  than  any  other  li- 
quor in  use,  but  its  high  price  renders  its  employ- 
ment almost  impossible  for  objects  of  normal  ana- 
tomy ;  it  hardens  and  sensibly  alters  objects  of  pa- 
thological anatomy  ;  and  these  alterations,  however 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   185 

trifling  they  maybe,  and  unimportant  to  regular  ana- 
tomy, are  serious  for  the  physician,  who  cannot  have 
too  exact  an  idea  of  the  progress  of  disorganization 
in  the  livino;-  tissues.  If  alcohol  is  eminentlv  useful 
for  natural  history,  its  costliness  renders  it  impos- 
sible to  extend  the  use  of  it  as  far  as  the  interest  of 
science  demands. 

c.  Diluted  Alcohol,  to  which  is  added  the  deuto- 
chloride  of  mercury,  is  a  less  expensive  liquor ;  it 
preserves  accurately  enough  the  labours  of  the  na- 
turalist and  anatomist,  but  it  is  not  sufficiently 
faithful  for  a  pathological  anatomy.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  hydro-chlorate  of  soda,  the  hydro- 
chlorate  of  ammonia,  the  muriate  and  nitrate  of 
alumine  added  to  alcohol. 

d.  Alum,  which  we  have  seen  figure  in  many  of 
the  adopted  formulae,  is,  nevertheless  an  unprofit- 
able means  of  preservation.  Extensively  used  in 
commerce,  and  employed  from  time  immemorial  in 
dyeing,  it  has  only  recently  attracted  the  attention 
of  preparers.  This  salt,  to  which  the  new  chemical 
nomenclature  has  successively  assigned  the  names 
of  double  sulphate,  triple  sulphate,  acid  sulphate  oj 
alumine  and  potash  ;  has  been  experimented  upon 
by  myself,  and  has  not  answered  my  expectations. 
I  have  investigated  the  cause  of  this  failure,  and 
think  I  have  found  it ;  in  analysing  this  compound, 
for  every  hundred  parts  I  have  obtained 

Sulphate  of  alumine,  36.85 

Sulphate  of  potash,  18.15 

Water,  45 

100 

2  A 


186  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

One  hundred  parts  of  this  salt  contains  10.86  of 
alumine.  At  the  temperature  of  12°  centigrade, 
five  hundred  grammes  of  v^ater  dissolves  thirty 
grammes  of  salt,  from  M^hence  it  results  that  a 
pound  of  water  contains  in  solution  only  eighteen 
grains  of  alumine ;  from  whence  I  have  suspected 
that  the  little  efficacy  of  alum  for  the  preservation 
of  animal  matter,  depends  on  the  too  small  quantity 
of  alumine  in  the  solution.  A  fact  convinced  me 
that  I  was  right :  twenty-four  hours  after  the  im- 
mersion of  a  corpse  in  a  bath  containing  the  acid 
sulphate  of  alumine,  I  have  observed  that  all  the 
alumine  was  absorbed  by  the  animal  matter.  Finally, 
the  experiments  which  I  have  tried  with  the  salts 
of  alum,  more  rich  in  alumine,  and  more  soluble  in 
water,  and  the  happy  results  I  have  attained,  au- 
thorizes me  to  say  :  alum  is  a  bad  means  of  preser- 
vation, because  it  is  not  sufficiently  soluble,  and  does 
not  contain  enough  alumiiie.  The  reader  will  na- 
turally again  recur  to  the  subject  when  we  come  to 
the  exposition  of  my  researches. 

Sect.  3. — Means  of  preservation  apj^lied  to  each 
tissue. 

In  our  first  paragraph,  we  have  passed  in  review 
the  different  preparations  which  ought  to  precede 
the  application  of  preservative  means ;  in  the  se- 
cond, we  have  seen  these  numerous  means,  and  we 
were  compelled  to  deliver  an  impartial  judgment. 
It  remains  for  us  to  explain  here  how  anatomists 
have  applied  them  to  the  tissues  taken  separately. 
We  shall  abstain  from  relating  the  preparations 
which  precede  the  application  of  preservative  means, 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   187 

because  they  are  foreign  to  the  subject  which  occu- 
pies us,  and  would  uselessly  prolong  a  discussion 
already  too  much  extended. 

1.  Fibrous  tissues. — Articulations,  aponeuroses, 
tendons,  and  ligaments. — The  process  generally 
adopted  is  due  to  M.  J.  Cloquet,  in  nearly  following 
the  method  employed  by  the  tanner,  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  preserving  ihe  suppleness  of  these  tissues. 

"  The  following,"  continues  he,  "  is  the  process 
which  I  have  adopted. 

"  Dissolve  four  pounds  of  muriate  of  soda  and  a 
pound  of  alum  in  ten  pints  of  water  :  the  articula- 
tion, which  has  been  carefully  dissected,  must  be 
allowed  to  macerate  fifteen  or  twenty  days  in  this 
lie ;  paying  attention  to  move  it  frequently  in  the 
solution,  to  press  and  twist  its  ligaments,  and,  above 
all,  to  strike  it  lightly  with  a  little  mace  of  light 
wood.  These  manoeuvres  are  intended  to  render 
them  pliable,  to  separate  the  fibres,  which  permits 
the  salts  to  penetrate  more  easily.  Withdraw  the 
articulation  from  the  solution,  dry  it  for  four  or  five 
days,  taking  care  to  move  it  occasionally,  and  still 
to  strike  it  with  the  little  mace;  then  put  the  arti- 
culation into  a  very  concentrated  solution  of  soap, 
(a  pound  to  three  pints  of  water,)  handle,  and  strike 
it  again  for  seven  or  eight  days,  the  time  necessary 
for  divesting  it  of  salt,  and  permitting  the  soap  to 
penetrate  the  ligamentous  fibres,  to  take  the  place 
of  the  salts.  At  the  end  of  this  time,  that  is  to  say, 
thirty-six  or  forty  days  after  the  commencement  of 
the  operation,  wash  the  articulation  in  a  weak  lie  of 
carbonate  of  soda,  (an  ounce  to  two  pounds  of  wa- 
ter,) after  which  it  is  to  be  dried. 


188  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

"  By  this  process,  which  may  be  modified  in  va- 
rious ways,  ligament  may  be  obtained  perfectly  sup- 
ple, of  a  yellowish  or  grayish  colour,  resembling 
chamois  leather,  very  resisting,  and  permitting  the 
joints  to  execute  their  ordinary  movements. 

"  I  have  prepared,  in  this  manner,  the  articula- 
tions of  the  shoulder,  of  the  knee,  of  the  fingers,  and 
of  the  vertebral  column.  I  repeated  my  experiments 
with  the  intention  of  obtaining  a  more  expeditious 
method. 

"  The  articulations  may  also  be  preserved  per- 
fectly supple,  by  keeping  them  immersed  in  a  mix- 
ture of  equal  parts  of  olive  oil  and  essence  of  tur- 
pentine. 

"  2.  Osseous  tissue. — The  difiJ'erent  preparations 
to  which  bones  are  subjected  in  order  to  preserve 
them,  are  maceration  or  ebullition,  and  then  bleach- 
ing- 

"  Maceration. — When  it  is  desired  to  obtain  the 
bones  very  white,  it  is  necessary  to  choose,  as  far  as 
possible,  a  thin  or  infiltrated  corpse,  of  an  individual 
of  from  thirty  to  forty-five  years,  or  thereabouts, 
dead  of  some  chronic  disease  which  has  not  altered 
the  structure  of  the  bones.  Consumptive  bodies  are 
the  most  proper  for  this  kind  of  preparation.  The 
subject  being  chosen,  it  is  roughly  stripped  of  its 
muscles  and  periosteum  ;  the  sternum  is  to  be  de- 
tached by  dividing  the  costal  cartilages  where  they 
join  the  ribs ;  the  members  are  to  be  separated  from 
the  trunk,  in  order  that  these  various  parts  may  be 
more  conveniently  placed  in  a  trough,  which  is  to 
be  filled  with  water,  and  disposed  in  some  place 
where  the  putrid  emanations  cannot  produce  any  in- 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   189 

convenience ;  the  bones  must  be  constantly  kept  co- 
vered with  water,  which  must  be  renewed  every 
four  or  five  days  in  the  commencement,  and  at  more 
prolonged  intervals  towards  the  end  of  the  macera- 
tion. 

"  The  anatomist  should  watch  over  these  macera- 
tions ;  and  it  is  only  when  all  the  fibrous  parts  se- 
parate easily  from  the  bones,  or  the  inter-vertebral 
fibro-cartilages,  and  the  yellow  ligaments  separate 
readily  from  the  vertebra,  that  the  skeleton  should 
be  withdrawn  from  the  bath  and  cleaned.  For  this 
purpose,  he  collects  with  care  all  the  pieces,  and 
places  them  in  clean  water ;  he  cleans  them  by  re- 
moving with  a  scalpel  the  fibrous  parts  which  may 
yet  adhere,  and  by  rubbing  them  under  water  with 
a  very  coarse  brush  ;  he  then  places  them  on  coarse 
linen  to  dry  them. 

''Ebullition. — Boiling  water  is  often  resorted  to 
for  preparing  the  bones  of  the  skeleton.  After  hav- 
ing roughly  separated  them  from  the  soft  parts,  they 
are  placed  in  a  kettle  of  water,  and  subjected  to 
ebullition  for  six  or  ten  hours,  according  to  the  sub- 
ject. The  action  of  the  water  is  increased,  and  the 
fibrous  parts  more  accurately  stripped  from  the 
bones,  as  well  as  the  grease,  by  placing  in  the  ket- 
tle, an  hour  before  the  end  of  the  operation,  potash, 
or  soda  of  commerce,  (sub-carbonate  of  potash,  and 
of  soda,)  one  pound  to  eighty  or  a  hundred  pints  of 
liquid.  After  having  carefully  removed  the  grease 
which  swims  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  the  bones 
are  to  be  withdrawn  and  plunged  into  a  new  alka- 
line lie,  warm  and  very  weak ;  clean  them  with 
care,  as  in  the  preceding  case,  separating  exactly 


190  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

from  the  articular  surfaces,  the  swollen  and  softened 
cartilages,  which  remain  adhering  to  them  :  the 
bones  being  clean,  they  are  to  be  washed  frequently 
previously  to  drying. 

"  In  employing  ebullition,  we  have  the  advantage 
of  preparing  the  bones  more  promptly,  and  in  a  man- 
ner less  insalubrious  than  by  maceration.  Never- 
theless, this  mode  of  preparation  has  its  inconveni- 
ence :  1.  Bones  which  are  boiled,  become,  in  gene- 
ral, less  white  than  those  which  are  macerated  ;  the 
blood  coagulating  in  their  pores,  leaves  a  brown 
tinge,  which  it  is  often  impossible  to  remove ;  2. 
They  commonly  retain  a  greater  quantity  of  medul- 
lary matter,  which,  by  becoming  rancid,  soon  gives 
them  a  yellow  colour  and  a  very  disagreeable  odour ; 
3.  Ebullition  is  not  applicable  to  the  bones  of  young 
subjects,  in  which  the  epiphyses  are  not  yet  ad- 
herent ;  it  acts  upon  their  gelatinous  texture,  and 
despoils,  in  part,  the  short  bones  and  the  extremities 
of  the  long  bones  of  the  compact  layer  which  enve- 
lopes them.  This  last  inconvenience  is  manifested 
even  in  the  bones  of  adults. 

"  Dealbation,  or  bleaching  of  hones. — In  order  to 
obtain  macerated  bones  perfectly  white,  several  pro- 
cesses are  employed  :  1.  The  best  method  consists 
in  placing  them  upon  the  grass  exposed  to  the  united 
action  of  the  air,  the  sun,  and  the  dew,  as  is  prac- 
tised in  bleaching  linen,  wax,  &c.;  care  is  to  be 
taken  to  turn  them  every  fifteen  days,  in  order  that 
they  may  bleach  equably ;  two  or  three  months  of 
such  exposure  is  sufficient,  particularly  during  the 
spring,  to  give  them  a  brilliant  whiteness.  2.  The 
bones   may  be  exposed  to  the  action  of  chlorine, 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   191 

either  liquid  or  gaseous.  In  the  first  case,  they  are 
to  be  plunged  three  or  four  times  daily  in  a  lie  which 
holds  chlorine  in  solution,  repeating  this  operation 
for  ten  or  twelve  days ;  in  the  second,  they  must  be 
steeped  in  \vater,  placed  on  a  hurdle  and  covered 
with  cere-cloth  or  gummed  taffeta,  they  are  then  to 
be  exposed  over  an  earthen  pan,  in  which  has  been 
placed  suitable  proportions,  of  muriate  of  soda,  oxide 
of  manganese,  and  sulphuric  acid  :  from  time  to  time 
this  mixture  is  to  be  slightly  heated.  3.  In  place  of 
gaseous  chlorine,  the  vapour  of  sulphuric  acid  may 
be  advantageously  employed,  as  is  done  in  the  arts 
of  bleaching  wool,  silk,  &c.;  sulphur  is  slowly  burned 
beneath  the  hurdle,  upon  which  has  been  placed 
the  moistened  bones  ;  the  alkaline  lies  may  also  be 
used  for  the  bleaching  of  bones  although  they  do 
not  appear  to  me  so  advantageous  as  the  preceding 
means. 

''3.  Cutaneous  tissues. — Deprived  of  grease,  and  of 
subjacent  cellular  tissue  and  exposed  to  the  air, 
this  tissue  inclines  to  dry.  The  human  skin  may 
be  prepared  by  the  aid  of  several  processes  ana- 
logous to  those  of  tanners  and  leather  dressers. 
A  lie  has  been  recommended  composed  of  two 
pounds  of  common  salt,  four  ounces  of  sulphate 
of  iron,  and  eight  ounces  of  alum,  melted  in  three 
pints  of  almost  boiling  water ;  the  skin  divested 
of  its  grease,  is  plunged  into  this  solution,  agitated 
for  half  an  hour,  and  macerated  for  a  day  or  two  in 
this  liquid ;  the  lie  must  be  frequently  renewed,  then 
the  skin  is  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  bath  and  dried 
in  the  shade. 

"  4.  Cellular  tissue. — Authors  have  successively 
employed  desiccation,  insufflation,  tanning  liquors 


192  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

and  alcohol,  for  preparing  the  cellular  tissue ;  al- 
though the  method  given  by  them  as  preferable,  is 
the  preservation  in  an  aqueous  solution  of  nitrate  of 
alumine,  to  v^^hich  is  added  a  small  quantity  of 
spirits  of  vi^ine. 

"  5.  Synovial  and  serous  tissues. — The  first  is  much 
more  easily  preserved  than  the  other ;  an  accura+e 
dissection,  expulsion  of  the  synovial  liquor,  knead- 
ing, and  desiccation,  are  the  means  used ;  the  ope- 
ration is  finished  by  the  application  of  a  preserva- 
tive varnish.  The  same  practice  is  applied  to  the 
serous  tissues,  but  with  less  success  ;  its  proximity 
to  organs  eminently  putrescible,  such  as  the  brain, 
the  lungs,  the  liver,  renders  its  dissolution  more  im- 
minent, more  difficult  to  prevent. 

"6.  Encephalon,  spinal  marrow,  7ierves. — We  have 
already  spoken  of  the  property  of  nitric  acid,  to  give 
consistency  to  the  nerves,  without  causing  them  to 
lose  any  thing  of  their  pearly  whiteness.  Anatomists 
generally  avail  themselves,  for  the  preservation  of 
the  whole  nervous  system,  of  the  alcoholic  solution 
of  corrosive  sublimate.  After  twenty  or  thirty  days 
immersion  in  the  bath,  these  organs  are  withdrawn 
and  exposed  to  dry.  As  communicating  a  remark- 
able density  to  the  encephalic  mass,  a  solution  of 
sugar  in  brandy  is  much  praised  :  it  is  a  method  re- 
commended by  Lobstein,  chief  of  the  anatomical  de- 
partment of  the  Faculty  of  Strasbourg. 

"7.  Arterial  vessels,  veins,  and  lymphatics. — The  in- 
teresting details  which  have  been  furnished  to  us 
by  the  pamphlets  of  M.  Dumeril  on  the  subject  of 
injections,  will  enable  us  to  dispense  with  much 
further  developments ;  the  vessels  injected  and  pre- 


PREVIOUS   TO   THE    PROCESS    OF    GANNAL.       193 

served,  as  we  have  seen,  are  dried  and  preserved  in 
alcoholic  liquors. 

"  When  the  object  is  to  prepare  the  vessels  of  the 
bones,  some  care  is  exacted  to  render  visible  their 
passage  through  the  bony  frame ;  after  having  filled 
the  vessel  with  a  coloured  injection,  the  piece  is  to 
be  placed  in  a  diluted  mineral  acid,  w^hich,  in  dis- 
solving the  calcareous  phosphate,  leaves  the  vessels 
in  position,  and  clearly  visible  through  the  gelatinous 
portion  of  the  bone. 

"  In  causing  this  mucous  body  to  dry  slowly  and 
in  the  shade,  it  will  acquire  the  necessary  trans- 
parency to  manifest  on  its  cut  surface  (endued  with 
volatile  oil  and  varnished)  the  distribution  of  the 
vessels  which  penetrate  the  bones.  These  pieces 
may  be  preserved  in  a  collection,  either  in  the  open 
air,  after  having  been  plunged  into  an  alcoholic  so- 
lution of  arsenical  soap,  which  dries  quickly  with- 
out bleaching;  and  to  which  essence  varnish  ad- 
heres very  well ;  or  if  the  piece  is  small,  it  may  be 
suspended  in  a  jar  of  volatile  oil,  luted  with  care  ;  in 
this  latter  case,  the  injection  must  have  been  made 
with  gelatine,  and  not  with  fatty  matter. 

"  8.  Muscular  tissue. — The  process  of  Swan,  or 
rather  the  discoveries  of  Chaussier,  furnish  the 
means  of  preserving  the  muscles  by  desiccation. 
Nevertheless,  another  method  is  recommended  by 
authors ;  after  having  prepared  the  vessels  and  the 
muscles,  the  preparation  is  to  be  placed  in  a  mix- 
ture of  alcohol,  lavender,  and  essence  of  turpentine  ; 
it  is  to  be  left  for  several  days  in  this  liquor,  and  then 
exposed  to  a  warm  and  dry  air;  when  desiccation  is 
complete,  a  layer  of  varnish  may  be  applied. 

25 


194  METHOD    OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS 

"9.  The  preservation  of  particular  organs,  such  as 
the  heart,  the  lungs,  the  eye,  &c.,  differ  but  little  from 
that  of  the  organs  w^hich  we  have  just  mentioned  ; 
they  are  always  to  be  either  dried,  or  deposited  in  an 
alcohol  bath.  The  lacrymal  ways,  says  M.  Breschet 
in  his  excellent  thesis  on  the  preservation  of  anato- 
mical subjects  (Paris,  1819,)  are  less  easily  pre- 
served, although  the  lacrymal  sac,  nasal  canal,  the 
lacrymal  points  and  conducts,  offer  more  difficulty 
in  their  preparation  than  in  their  preservation,  which 
may  be  accomplished  by  liquors,  or  by  desiccation. 
The  lacrymal  canal,  and  its  excretory  canals,  can 
only  be  seen  on  preparations  in  spirits  of  wine. 
Finally,  the  following  are  some  passages  from  the 
same  work,  upon  the  means  of  preserving  the  emhryon 
and  thefcBtal  envelopes. 

"It  is  useful  to  preserve  theembryons  and  foetuses 
at  different  periods  of  gestation,  in  order  to  study  the 
successive  development  of  each  organ. 

"  The  egg,  considered  in  its  various  periods  of  in- 
cubation, can  only  be  preserved  in  alcohol  somewhat 
weakened,  in  order  that  it  may  not  harden  the  mem- 
branes. Kirschwasser,  in  which  has  been  dissolved 
the  nitrate  of  alumine,  forms  a  limpid  liquor,  in 
which  the  egg  may  be  preserved  without  any  alter- 
ation. In  order  to  demonstrate  the  development 
of  these  organs,  many  parts  may  be  injected ;  thus, 
during  the  earlier  periods,  the  pedicle  of  the  umbi- 
lical vesicle  admits  mercury,  which  is  introduced 
by  a  small  glass  syringe,  the  tube  of  which  has  been 
drawn  fine  in  the  blow-pipe  :  this  injection  ought  to 
be  made  on  the  side  of  the  vesicle,  and  sometimes 
the  metal  may  be  seen  passing  into  the  intestines. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PROCESS  OF  GANNAL.   195 

"  The  omphalo-mesenteric  vessel  ought  also  to  be 
injected.  The  urachus  should  be  opened,  and  its 
communication  with  the  bladder  should  be  shown 
on  one  part,  and  with  the  alantois  on  the  other.  All 
these  parts  are  to  be  kept  separate  from  each  other, 
and  attached  by  means  of  small  pins  to  a  plate  of 
wax.  In  the  foetus,  near  the  term  of  gestation, 
those  vessels  which  establish  the  communication  be- 
tween it  and  the  mother,  are  to  be  injected. 

"The  bones  of  the  embryon,  after  having  been  in- 
jected, are  to  be  placed  in  oil  of  turpentine,  without 
its  being  necessary  previously  to  place  them  in  a 
weakened  acid. 

As  regards  the  envelopes  of  the  foetus,  and  the 
placenta  which  it  may  be  intended  to  preserve  after 
an  accouchment  at  full  term,  injections  of  different 
colours  are  forced  into  the  umbilical  arteries  and 
veins ;  this  injection  should  not  be  too  delicate,  or 
pushed  with  too  much  force,  otherwise  it  will  pass 
from  one  of  the  vessels  into  the  other.  These  two 
parts  should  be  allowed  to  soak  some  time  in  an 
aluminous  water,  or,  what  is  better,  in  a  sublimated 
alcoholic  solution,  then  place  a  hog's  bladder  in  the 
cavity  of  the  membranes,  blow  up  the  bladder,  and 
thus  expose  the  parts  to  the  air  for  desiccation  ;  after 
which  the  bladder  is  to  be  withdrawn.  The  mem- 
branes, with  the  placenta,  may  thus  be  preserved, 
by  placing  the  uterine  face  of  the  latter  sometimes 
within  sometimes  without  the  cavity  of  the  mem- 
branes. These  same  parts  can  be  preserved  in  li- 
quors. Finally,  some  persons  make  use  of  the  me- 
thod of  corrosion  to  prepare  and  preserve  the  pla- 
centa." 


106      METHOD   OF    PRESERVING    SUBJECTS,    &C. 

It  is  useless  to  advance  here  new  observations ; 
those  which  have  been  already  presented  on  the  oc- 
casion of  preservation,  considered  in  general,  are 
equally  applicable  to  the  present.  It  will  be  per- 
ceived in  the  following  chapter  what  means  I  pro- 
pose to  substitute  for  them,  as  meriting  the  prefer- 
ence. 


GENERAL    PROCESSES,    &C.  197 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE  PRESERVATION  OF 
OBJECTS  OF  NORMAL  ANATOMY,  PATHOLOGICAL  ANA- 
TOMY, AND  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

E  M  B  A  I,  M  I  N  G  . 

A  PORTION  of  my  researches  has  been  submitted 
to  the  examination  of  commissioners,  appointed  by 
the  Institute,  and  by  the  Academy  of  Medicine. 

After  long  and  repeated  experiments,  MM.  the 
commisioners,  have  been  unanimous  upon  the  uti- 
Hty  of  the  processes  of  preservation  which  I  propose, 
and  in  particular  my  process  for  the  preservation  of 
subjects  for  the  amphitheatres,  the  only  one  for 
which  it  was  important  for  me  to  obtain  a  definite 
sanction,  recommended  by  the  Institute,  is  applied 
to  the  dissecting  rooms  of  Clamart,  with  a  success 
that  every  one  may  witness. 

The  faithful  and  complete  exposition  of  the  nu- 
merous trials  which  I  have  attempted,  will  furnish 
me,  in  this  chapter,  the  occasion  of  indicating  the 
most  efficacious  means  of  preservation  for  objects  of 
pathological  anatomy  and  of  natural  history.  And, 
as  it  is  incumbent  on  a  man  of  study,  disinterested 
in  all  that  concerns  science,  I  will  give  publicity  to 
the  result  of  my  labours,  the  composition  of  the  dif- 
ferent liquids,  and  the  mode  of  using  them. 

As  for  my  process  of  embalming,  I  have  thought 


198  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

that  it  ought  to  remain  my  property,  and  that  one 
exclusively  addicted  to  chemical  studies  was  more 
qualified  than  the  physician  to  subject  it  to  those 
modifications  which  each  particular  case  requires. 

I  have  secured  a  patent  of  invention  ;  for  my  me- 
thod differs  essentially  enough  from  the  prepara- 
tions which  I  indicate  for  the  purposes  of  anatomy. 

It  is  necessary,  in  effect,  to  preserve  to  the  tissues 
in  embalming,  a  freshness  and  suppleness  which  is 
lost  by  desiccation,  at  the  end  of  some  months,  in 
the  subjects  injected  for  the  use  of  the  anatomist ;  it 
is  necessary,  above  all,  to  secure  to  the  body,  in  this 
latter  case,  a  more  prolonged  preservation  :  the  facts 
which  I  can  show,  will  prove  that  I  have  attained 
my  end. 

1. — Preservation  of  bodies  for  dissection. 

My  experiments  upon  gelatine  have  conducted 
me  to  the  knowledge  of  some  one  of  the  constituent 
parts  of  different  animals.  I  had  studied  the  action 
of  chemical  agents  habitually  employed  in  the  arts ; 
the  labour  of  the  tanner,  or  leather  dresser,  of  the 
parchment  maker,  the  fabrication  of  glue,  which  I 
have  practised  on  a  large  scale  from  1819  to  1828, 
have  equally  furnished  me  with  valuable  data. 

In  1826,  my  attention  having  been  arrested  by 
MM.  Begin  and  Serrulas,  on  the  preservation  of  ob- 
jects of  pathological  anatomy,  trials  were  made  at 
the  Val-de-Grace. 

In  1828,  M.  Alphonse  Sanson,  disposing  himself 
to  prepare  a  cabinet  of  anatomy,  at  the  request  and 
for  the  use  of  some  English  gentlemen,  proposed  to 
me  to  occupy  myself  with  the  question  relative  to 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &LC.      199 

preservation,  which  obliged  me  to  make  some  re- 
searches; but  it  was  not  until  1831,  and  at  the  so- 
licitation of  M.  Strauss,  an  anatomist  of  well  known 
merit,  that  I  undertook  serious  and  continued  la- 
bours upon  the  preservation  of  bodies.  From  this 
moment,  I  employed  all  my  attention  and  cares  to 
resolve  this  question. 

The  researches  on  the  preservation  of  bodies  de- 
manded the  re-union  of  different  circumstances, 
without  which  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
me  to  have  attained  a  satisfactory  solution.  It  is 
easy  to  conceive,  in  effect,  the  great  difference  which 
ought  to  exist  between  the  action  of  any  given  li- 
quid upon  some  scruples  of  animal  matter,  and  its 
action  on  an  entire  corpse ;  I  ought  to  confess,  also, 
that  without  the  extreme  courtesy  of  M.  Orfila, 
who  placed  at  my  disposition,  at  the  practical  school 
of  the  faculty  of  medicine,  all  the  objects  of  which 
I  might  stand  in  need,  it  is  probable  that  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  me  to  have  arrived  at  po- 
sitive results.  I  encountered  some  difficulties,  some 
resistance,  and  even  something  more,  on  the  part  of 
some  scientific  notables,  and  also  of  some  ambitious 
subalterns ;  but  I  have  surmounted  all. 

This  work  on  the  preservation  of  bodies  ought 
only  to  be  considered  as  the  suit  of  that  in  which  I 
have  treated  of  the  preservation  of  alimentary  meats. 
It  is  only  the  circumstances  of  which  I  have  just 
spoken,  that  have  determined  me  to  finish  this  work 

sooner.. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  study  of  medicine  should 
be  preceded  by  the  study  of  anatomy,  which  teaches 
the  knowledge  of  the  ororanization  of  the  human 


200  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

body ;  but  this  study  is  difficult  and  presents  nu- 
merous dangers.  The  study  of  the  orgaas  exacts 
time;  their  dissection  is  tedious,  especially  if  in- 
tended for  demonstration.  In  this  case  it  almost  al- 
ways happens  that  putrefaction  seizes  the  subject 
before  the  preparation  is  finished ;  for,  at  a  tem- 
perature above  fifteen  degrees,  it  is  impossible  to 
preserve  a  subject  more  than  six  days ;  under  this 
temperature,  that  is  to  say,  from  0  to  10  degrees, 
the  longest  time  one  can  disssect  is  tM^elve  or  fifteen 
days.  But  the  corpse  alw^ays  exhales  mephitic  mi- 
asmata before  all  the  organs  are  putrefied,  and  this 
emanation  of  gas  is  certainly  the  cause  which  most 
frequently  determines  typhus  fever,  so  destructive 
to  a  portion  of  our  studious  youths.^ 

Before  exposing  my  own  researches  upon  the  pre- 
servation of  bodies,  it  was  necessary  to  examine  the 
researches  anterior  to  mine  ;  it  will  have  been  per- 
ceived by  what  precedes,  that  they  were  of  no  ser- 
vice to  me. 

Thus,  in  viewing  all  that  has  been  effected  on 
this  matter,  I  can  find  no  indications  excepting  the 
processes  employed  in  the  arts. 

In  our  works  of  chemistry  applied  to  the  arts,  I 
have  often  been  able  to  prove,  practically,  that  mus- 
cular flesh,  perfectly  isolated,  easily  dries.  When 
it  is  mixed  with  gelatine,  it  easily  experiences,  on 
the  contrary,  putrid  fermentation.     Geline^  is  the 

^  Out  of  ten  medical  students  lodging  together,  and  frequently  of  the 
same  amphitheatre,  nine  were  attacked  by  this  grave  malady  in  the 
course  of  last  year,  and  three  of  them  died. 

2  Up  to  the  present,  certain  animal  substances  have  been  considered 
chemically  identical,  which  are  not  so:  1,  the  proper  matter  of  gelati- 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     201 

animal  matter,  which,  all  circumstances  being  equal, 
putrefies  the  easiest ;  and  which,  forming  the  organs 
of  animals,  experiences  an  alteration  more  or  less 
prompt,  according  to  the  prevalence  of  a  greater  or 
less  quantity  of  water  of  composition  present.  Al- 
ways, then,  when  we  succeed  in  preserving  from 
putrefaction  this  animal  part,  the  other  parts  will  be 
disposed  to  desiccation.  My  researches  have  con- 
ducted me  to  this  conclusion. 

In  order  to  find  a  method  of  preserving  bodies, 
and  animal  matters  in  general,  it  was  essential  to 
examine  the  action  of  chemical  substances  to  which 
may  be  attributed  properties  which  produce  upon 
the  constituent  parts  of  these  matters  an  immediate 
action;  it  is  necessary  also,  that  they  should  be 
easily  procured,  and  that  they  be  of  a  moderate 
price.  I  am  satisfied  that  acids  do  not  preserve  ani- 
mal matters ;  they  disorganize  them  more  or  less 
promptly,  in  direct  proportion  to  their  concentration. 
Many  weak  acids,  among  others  hydrochloric  acid, 
at  five  degrees,  may  be  employed  to  dissolve  the 
calcareous  salts  from  the  bones  ;  nitric  acid  also,  at 
five  degrees,  may  be  brought  into  use  in  some  par- 
ticular cases;  for  example,  when  it  is  wished  to 
study  the  nervous  system  ;  but  then  the  bones  are 
softened,  the  geline  is  in  part  disorganized,  the  mus- 

nous  tissues  not  decomposed  ;  2,  the  product  which  results  from  their  de- 
composition by  the  action  of  heat  and  water ;  3,  this  same  secondary 
product  dried.  These  three  compounds  were  designated  by  the  denomi- 
nation of  gelatine.  As  I  have  proved  that  there  is  not  between  them  any 
identity  of  character,  I  have  named  gelatine  the  animal  matter  contained 
in  the  gelatinous  tissues  ;  I  have  reserved  the  name  jelly  to  the  product 
of  the  decomposition  of  geline,  and  I  have  left  the  name  gelatine  to  glue, 
whatever  may  be  its  purity. 

26 


202  GENERAL    TROCESSES    FOR    THE 

cles  are  discolored,  and  become  flabby,  as  well  as 
the  viscera ;  the  nerves  only  remain  of  a  pearly  blue, 
strongly  pronounced. 

Arsenic  acid  has  a  very  marked  action  on  animal 
matters ;  I  shall  make  it  known  without  delay  in 
my  second  memoir  upon  gelatine.  It  preserves  bo- 
dies well,  but  appears  to  favour  their  desiccation.  In 
the  details  of  experiments  made  under  the  surveil- 
lance of  the  commissioners  of  the  two  academies,  I 
shall  cite  the  effects  produced  by  the  employment 
of  this  substance.  Acetic  acid  preserves  flesh  only 
by  drying  it.  This  acid  weakened,  or  vinegar,  re- 
tards putrefaction,  softens  the  bones,  as  well  as  the 
muscles,  which  are  discolored  by  its  action. 

Concentrated  lies  dissolve  all  animal  matters; 
weak  alkaline  solutions  disorganize  more  or  less 
promptly  the  same  substances. 

A  very  small  quantity  of  alkali  suffices,  when 
warm,  to  decompose  very  large  masses  of  glue. 
This  effect  is  often  produced  through  ignorance  in 
the  manufacture  of  strong  glue. 

Salts  only  preserve  meats  when  employed  dry,  or 
in  very  concentrated  solutions  ;  it  is  necessary  that 
their  affinity  should  be  sufficiently  great  to  absorb 
all  the  water  of  combination  of  animal  matters.  It 
may  be  then  affirmed  that  salt  only  preserves  meat 
by  drying  it ;  thus  those  salts  more  soluble  in  warm 
than  in  cold  water ;  may,  when  injected  warm,  in  a 
saturated  solution,  be  considered  as  a  good  means 
of  preservation,  but  which  cannot  be  employed  for 
anatomical  purposes,  because  of  the  crystals  which 
form  in  the  organs  during  the  cooling  of  the  injected 
liquor. 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF   ANATOAIY.  &iC.    203 

Salts  with  a  metallic  oxide  base  have  in  general 
little  affinity  for  geline,  and  do  not  preserve  well ; 
those  which  are  poisonous  being  alone  excepted. 
The  salts  of  copper,  and  above  all  those  of  mercury 
hinder  putrefaction ;  but  many  causes  are  opposed 
to  their  employment. 

1.  Their  action  is  not  sufficiently  energetic  to  give 
them  the  preference  :  2.  they  are  always  dangerous 
when  employed  in  large  quantities.  3.  They  are 
very  injurious  to  dissecting  instruments.  4.  In  fine 
they  are  too  costly. 

The  aluminous  salts  are  those  alone  which  I  find 
possessed  of  the  property  of  preserving  animal  mat- 
ters ;  their  bases  combine  w^ith  geline  to  form  a  parr 
ticular  compound,  the  acid  being  set  free. 

The  vegetable  kingdom  furnishes  but  few  pro- 
ducts capable  of  preventing  or  retarding  putrefac- 
tion ;  alcohol  is  nearly  the  only  substance  posses- 
sing the  property.  It  preserves  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  salts,  by  imbibing  a  portion  of  the  water 
of  composition  ;  it  bleaches,  discolours,  and  hardens 
the  organs.  Alcohol  is  the  only  substance  employed  up 
to  the  present  for  preservation ;  but  its  action  upon  the 
tissues,  its  extreme  volatility,  the  difficulty  of  trans- 
porting it,  and  its  extreme  dearness,  makes  another 
process  desirable. 

Tannin  cannot  be  employed,  because  water  does 
not  contain  enough  of  it  in  solution  to  render  an  in- 
jection of  it  preservative ;  a  corpse  im merged,  even 
in  a  great  mass  of  tannin,  is  no  better  preserved, 
tlie  skin  is  tanned,  but  the  flesh  decomposes.* 

*  Entire  bodies  of  both  men  and  horses  have  been  found  not  unfre«- 
quentlvi  preserved  for  centuries  in  the   Knsrlisli  bogs — which  preserva- 


204  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

Gallic  acid  acts  in  the  same  manner,  but  yet  more 
feebly  than  tannin. 

An  oily,  volatile,  and  very  odorous  substance,  re- 
cently discovered,  and  to  which  the  name  Creosote, 
has  been  given,  has  been  presented  as  a  universal 
panacea,  which,  among  other  properties,  ought  to 
possess  that  of  well  preserving  bodies.  In  order  to 
assure  myself  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  on  the  18th 
October,  1835,  I  injected  a  subject  with  one  hun- 
dred scruples  of  creosote,  dissolved  in  seven  quarts 
water.  On  the  23d,  the  abdomen  was  very  much 
swollen,  and  of  a  very  strongly  pronounced  blue- 
green  colour ;  on  the  26th,  the  left  side  of  the  face, 
the  right  arm,  and  all  of  the  left  leg,  were  green ; 
on  the  30th  of  October,  putrefaction  was  so  much 
developed  that  it  became  necessary  to  bury  the  body. 
It  may  be  objected,  that  the  subject  should  have 
been  at  the  same  time  steeped  in  a  bath  saturated 
with  this  substance ;  but  its  high  price  discouraged 
me  from  making  such  an  experiment;  besides  I  think 
that  the  odour  of  the  creosote  will  always  prove  an 
obstacle  to  its  employment. 

Alum,  the  acid  sulphate  of  alumine,  and  of  pot- 
ash, have  given  me  the  first  good  results;  but, 
slightly  soluble  when  cold,  they  will  not  suffice 
when  the  atmospherical  temperature  rises  above  fif- 
teen degrees,  (cent.)  A  mixture  of  alum,  of  chlo- 
ride of  sodium,  (common  salt,)  and  of  nitrate  of  pot- 

tion  has  always  been  referred  to  the  tannin  in  its  fluid  portion.  These  in- 
stances probably  occurred  at  a  low  temperature.  I  have  tried  the  experiment 
by  immersing  small  quadrupeds  in  a  saturated  solution  of  powdered  nut- 
galls,  during  warm  weather,  but  always  found  it  insufficient  for  preser- 
vation from  putrefaction. — TV. 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     205 

ash,  has  succeeded  better  with  me.  I  have  tried  the 
action  of  sulphate  of  soda,  of  chloride  of  calcium, 
(muriate  of  lime,)  of  hydrochlorate  of  ammonia,  &c.; 
they  were  almost  useless. 

The  mixture  of  two  parts  of  alum,  of  two  parts  of 
salt,  and  of  one  part  of  nitre,  in  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  water  to  mark  the  Uquor  at  ten  degrees,  injected, 
preserves  bodies  very  well  bathed  in  the  same  liquor, 
but  only  when  the  temperature  is  under  ten  de- 
grees 0|0  for  a  more  elevated  temperature  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  warm  the  liquid,  and  add  the  salt  mix- 
ture until  the  areometer  marks  twenty-five  or  thirty 
degrees. 

Of  all  the  saline  substances  which  have  given  me 
satisfactory  results,  the  aluminous  deliquescent 
salts  are  to  be  preferred.  The  acetate  and  chloride 
of  alumine  have  perfectly  succeeded  with  me.  In 
fine,  a  mixture  of  equal  parts,  of  chloride  of  alumine 
at  twenty  degrees,  and  of  the  acetate  of  alumine  at 
ten  degrees,  may  be  considered,  employed  in  injec- 
tion, as  a  good  method  which  we  now  possess  for 
the  preservation  of  bodies. 

Now  that  I  have  explained  the  action  of  chemical 
agents  upon  animal  matters,  I  shall  enter  upon  the 
details  of  experiments. 

I  presented  my  work  to  the  Institute  on  the  fourth 
of  March,  1833.  The  Academy  of  Sciences  named 
for  its  examination,  a  commission  composed  of  MM. 
Savart,  Flourens,  ChevreuiJ,  and  Serres,  reporter. 
A  few  days  after,  M.  Serres  placed  at  my  disposi- 
tion, at  the  Hospital  La  Pitie,  and  in  his  private  ca- 
binet, a  corpse,  which  I  bathed  in  a  tub  containino- 
a  solution  at  ten  degrees,  two  parts  of  alum,  two 


206  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

parts  of  common  salt,  and  one  part  of  nitre.  This 
subject^  repeatedly  examined,  appeared  to  be  well 
preserved-  At  the  end  of  about  six  weeks  it  was 
opened ;  the  flesh  and  the  viscera  were  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation,  but  particular  circumstances 
put  an  end  to  this  examinatioiL 

On  the  twelfth  of  November,  1834,  the  adminis- 
tration of  Hospitals  presented  two  subjects  to  me, 
which  M.  Orfila  authorized  me  to  place  in  one  of 
the  grand  pavilions  of  the  practical  school  of  the  fa- 
culty of  medicine.  These  two  subjects  were  bathed 
in  a  liquid  of  ten  degrees.  The  second  of  Decem- 
ber the  commission  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
came  to  examine  these  two  subjects,  which  were 
consigned  to  dissection.  On  the  same  day  another 
subject  was  given  to  me.  This  was  injected  with 
eight  quarts  of  the  saline  solution  at  ten  degrees. 
At  the  end  of  December,  these  three  subjects  were 
in  a  good  state  of  preservation ;  it  was  remarked, 
however,  that  the  skin  as  well  as  the  flesh,  had 
slightly  assumed  a  decayed  consistence  and  colour  ; 
the  deep  organs,  which  had  not  been  in  immediate 
contact  with  the  liquid,  remained  almost  natural. 
From  this  period  until  the  end  of  April,  the  com- 
mission frequently  assembled  and  confirmed  these 
results- 

A  commission  constituted  by  the  Academy  of  Me- 
dicine early  in  March,  examined  these  same  sub- 
jects, and  demanded  new  experiments.  The  first 
subject  was  injected  with  coloured  fat,  and  then 
bathed.  The  corpse  injected  on  the  second  of  De- 
cember, was  also  injected  with  coloured  fat. 

Here  it  may  be  remarked  that  it  required  double 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.    207 

the  quantity  of  fatty  matter  for  this,  than  for  afresh 
subject,  and  that  the  most  delicate  arterial  net-work 
had  been  prepared  by  the  injection. 

These  experiments,  which  lasted  for  half  the 
month  of  May,  satisfied  me  that  an  injection  of  ten 
or  twelve  degrees  of  density,  and  immersion  of  the 
body  in  a  bath  of  the  same  liquid,  will  suffice  for  a 
preparation  destined  for  ordinary  anatomical  pur- 
poses, and  will  allow  of  dissection  after  several 
months. 

At  the  end  of  July,  1835,  M.  Orfila,  placed  at  my 
disposition  in  one  of  the  grand  pavillions  of  the  practi- 
cal school,  all  the  utensils  and  instruments  that  I 
might  stand  in  need  of;  on  the  7th  of  August,  I  in- 
jected a  subject  with  the  liquid  at  12  degrees,  and 
afterwards  bathed  it  in  the  same  liquid.  The  body,, 
at  the  end  of  two  days,  began  to  swell.  Eight  days 
after,  it  disengaged  so  large  a  portion  of  gas,  that  I 
was  obliged  to  Avithdraw  it  from  the  trough,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  retain 
it.  Placed  upon  a  table,  its  decomposition  appeared 
to  be  arrested,  no  more  gas  being  disengaged,  but 
there  escaped  a  great  quantity  of  liquor  coloured  by 
the  blood  ;  the  subject,  which  had  assumed  a  deep 
brown  colour,  became  completely  dried.  During  all 
this  time,  no  putrid  odour  was  remarked ;  it  was  that 
of  smoked  ham. 

A  second  subject  was  injected  with  the  same  liquid 
and  abandoned  on  a  table;  it  was  decomposed  at  the 
end  of  five  days  ;  but  it  must  be  remarked  that  the 
atmospherical  temperature  varied  from  twenty  to 
thirty  degrees. 

On  the  8th  of  August,  a  subject  was  injected  with 


208       GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE 

the  liquid  at  thirty  degrees  of  density,  which  was 
made  necessary  by  the  elevation  of  the  temperature 
up  to  fifty  degrees  0|0.  This  corpse  was  well  pre- 
served and  was  dissected  about  the  end  of  Decem- 
ber. 

These  various  experiments  convinced  me  that  the 
saline  solutions  employed  with  success  during  the 
winter,  were  insufficient  for  the  operations  during 
summer ;  that  is  to  say,  at  a  temparature  above  fifteen 
degrees. 

The  success  which  I  obtained  by  the  injection  of 
a  more  concentrated  liquid,  indicated  the  route  T 
was  to  follow. 

I  have  already  stated  that  the  alum  was  decom- 
posed, that  the  animal  matter,  the  geline,  combined 
with  the  alumine,  and  that  the  liberated  sulphuric  acid 
produced  the  alteration  of  the  tissues.  It  was  then 
indispensable  to  seek  an  aluminous  salt,  containing 
more  of  the  base  and  a  less  powerful  acid. 

On  the  16th  of  August,  I  injected  a  subject  with 
eio-ht  quarts  of  acetate  of  alumine  at  twenty  degrees. 
This  corpse,  placed  upon  the  table  without  any 
other  preparation,  was  preserved  perfectly  well  for 
the  period  of  one  month ;  at  the  end  of  this  period, 
it  might  be  perceived  that  the  nostrils,  the  eyelids, 
and  the  extremities  of  the  ears,  commenced  drying, 
as  well  as  the  hands  and  feet.  In  order  to  remedy 
this  inconvenience,  I  covered  one  half  the  subject 
with  a  layer  of  varnish.  At  the  end  of  two  months, 
it  was  easy  to  remark,  that  the  part  subjected  to  the 
action  of  the  air  had  considerably  diminished  in  vo- 
lume, and  was  less  useful  for  dissection.  Finally, 
at  the  end  of  January,  1836,  the  varnished  parts, 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.  209 

not  dissected,  were  still  well  preserved,  whilst  the 
rest  was  completely  dried,  mummified. 

Dr.  Piory  had  indicated  to  the  Academy  of 
Medicine  a  method  of  preserving  bodies  :  it  con- 
sisted, according  to  him,  in  enveloping  the  body  in 
layers  of  pewter,  and  of  linen,  and  then  of  varnish. 
This  process  perfectly  succeeded  with  me  on  a  sub- 
ject injected  with  acetate  of  alumino. 

Another  subject  was  injected  with  the  chloride  of 
aluminium.  This  injection  did  not  succeed  well, 
and  with  three  bodies  I  met  with  the  same  difficul- 
ties, that  is  to  say,  the  liquid  contained  in  the  sy- 
ringe having  been  introduced  after  the  space  of 
time  allowed  for  refilling  it,  the  circulatory  system 
had  become  so  obliterated  that  the  force  of  even  two 
men  was  not  sufficient  to  introduce  an  additional 
quantity.  At  twenty  degrees  the  chloride  of  alumi- 
nium has  so  great  an  affinity  for  water,  that  it  ab- 
sorbs that  of  which  the  organs  are  constituted.  How- 
ever, the  parts  of  the  body  which  had  been  pene- 
trated by  the  liquid  were  well  preserved,  the  mus- 
cles in  particular  had  preserved  their  colour. 

I  injected  another  subject  with  the  chloride  at 
eight  degrees,  but,  at  the  end  of  a  month,  it  was  de- 
composed. Finally,  I  introduced  a  quart  of  chlo- 
ride at  ten  degrees,  and  six  quarts  at  twenty  de- 
grees ;  this  subject  was  preserved,  but  the  parts 
not  dissected  were  dried  at  the  end  of  five  months. 

A  mixture  of  three  quarts  of  the  acetate  of  alu- 
mine  at  ten  degrees,  and  of  three  quarts  of  the  chlo- 
ride of  aluminium  at  twenty  degrees,  injected  by 
the  aorta,  or  better  still,  by  the  carotid  artery,  have 
afforded  tlie  most  satisfactory  results. 

27 


210  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

I  have  already  remarked  that  all  these  experi- 
ments were  made  under  the  inspection  of  the  com- 
mission appointed  by  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  of 
those  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  of  the  Mon- 
thyon  commission,  composed  of  MM.  Dnlong,  Ma- 
gendie,  Darcet,  and  Dumas,  reporter.  The  account 
which  these  commissioners  have  rendered  to  the 
two  Academies,  renders  it  unnecessary  to  present 
here  a  summary  of  my  experiments. 

These  gentlemen  requested  me  to  repeat  the  ex- 
periments of  Doctor  Tranchini,  of  Naples,  which 
consists  in  injecting  a  solution  of  two  pounds  of  ar- 
senic in  twenty  pounds  of  clear  water,  or  better,  in 
spirits  of  wine.  ^  During  eight  days  the  corpse  re- 
mained perfectly  natural ;  but  after  this  time  it  gra- 
dually dried,  although  deposited  in  a  damp  situa- 
tion, and  along  side  of  a  water  cock,  kept  running. 
It  was  injected  on  the  ninth  of  September,  and 
examined  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  the  same  month ; 
but,  on  the  same  day,  having  offered  it  to  several 
students  for  dissection,  none  of  them  were  willing 
to  accept  of  my  proposition. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  October,  it  was  found  unfit 
for  any  anatomical  purposes ;  on  the  thirtieth  it  was 
completely  dried. 

I  think  that  the  employment  of  this  method  pre- 
sents real  dangers  for  the  anatomist,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  proof :  Doctor  Poirson  declared  be- 
fore the  Academy  of  Medicine,  that  he  had  been  ex- 
ceedingly incommoded,  as  well  as  two  of  his  col- 

1  Arsenic  is  so  little  soluble,  even  in  warm  water,  and,  above  all,  in 
alcohol,  that  I  introduced  the  liquid  saturated,  holding  in  suspension 
more  than  one-half  of  the  powder  which  could  not  he  dissolved. 


PRESERVATION   OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &LC.     211 

leagues,  in  having  embalmed  two  generals  with  this 
substance;  he  attributed  this  derangement  of  his 
health  to  the  arsenic  absorbed  during  the  prepara- 
tion. 

I  drew  the  attention  of  the  commissioners  to  the 
fact,  that  the  table  upon  which  the  body  lay,  that 
the  windows  of  the  room,  and  that  the  corpse  itself, 
were  covered  with  dead  flies  ;  a  considerable  mass 
of  them  was  observed  on  the  opening  made  in  the 
sternum.  I  thought  that  this  effect  might  be  attri- 
buted to  the  evolution  of  arsenical  hydrogen  ;  this 
evolution  is,  at  least,  probable,  and  the  action  of  this 
gas  on  the  animal  economy  can  well  be  conceived. 

Finally,  when  we  reflect  that  there  are  always 
more  than  eighty  bodies  under  dissection  at  the 
Practical  School,  and  that,  consequently,  it  would 
demand  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  of  arsenic 
to  be  put  at  the  disposition  of  each  student,  it  will 
readily  be  conceded  that  this  process  would  not  be 
applicable.* 

At  this  period  of  my  labour,  I  had  already  proved 
that  the  methods  by  which  I  had  obtained  favoura- 
ble results  in  principle,  became  insufficient  when 
exterior  circumstances  changed ;  that  the  salt  of 
alumine,  which  I  made  use  of  in  my  injections,  was 

♦  In  the  diitumn  of  1837  I  tried  this  experiment  of  Tranchini,  on  the 
body  of  a  patient  who  had  died  the  day  before  with  consumption,  in  the 
wards  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital.  A  saturated  solution  of  spirits  of 
wine  and  arsenic,  coloured  with  carmine,  was  injected  into  the  carotid 

artery the  countenance  refined  its  natural  fulness  and  complexion, 

which  state  continued  for  about  three  weeks,  with  the  exception  of  some 
shrinking  of  the  eyes.  In  about  six  weeks  the  corpse  began  to  mould, 
and  the  skin  of  the  legs  could  be  scraped  off, — the  body  was  then  bu- 
ried.— TV. 


212       GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE 

not  sufficiently  rich  in  alnmine  ;  that  the  preserva- 
tion was  not  certain  above  a  certain  degree  of  tem- 
perature ;  finally,  I  had  found  in  the  acetate  of  alu- 
mine  a  suitable  matter  for  forming  injections  emi- 
nently preservative. 

It  was  then  that  the  reports  were  read  to  the  In- 
stitute and  Academy  of  Medicine.  I  cite  them  be- 
cause they  prove,  in  an  authentic  manner,  the  point 
which  I  have  attained.  It  was  already  possible, 
with  these  data,  to  dissect  during  all  seasons,  with- 
out fearing  henceforwards  the  dangers  attached  to 
this  employment  during  the  heat  of  the  weather. 

Institute  of  France. — Aca^iemy  of  Sciences — 
Public  sitting  of  Monday,  ^Sth  of  December, 
1835 — Prize  relative  to  the  means  of  rendering 
an  art  or  a  trade  less  unhealthy — On  the  pre- 
servation of  dead  bodies,  by  M.  Gannal. 

Your  commission  have  followed  with  interest  the 
experiments  of  M.  Gannal ;  it  has  availed  itself  of 
the  experience  of  those  of  our  confreres  whose  stu- 
dies oblige  them  to  practise  daily  dissections,  and  it 
believes  itself  authorized  to  declare  to  the  Academy, 
that  the  means  pointed  out  in  the  first  place  by  M. 
Gannal,  and  that,  which  is  still  better,  the  simple 
injections  of  acetate  of  alumine,  at  ten  degrees  of 
the  areometer,  which  he  practised  at  a  later  period, 
answers  for  preserving  bodies  for  several  months, 
even  during  the  summer.  It  is  assured  that  no  in- 
convenience results  from  it  in  dissections. 

Your  commission  has  thought  it  proper  to  wait 
until  this  process  should  be  regularly  practised  in 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     213 

some  amphitheatre  of  considerable  extent,  before 
pronouncing  on  it  in  a  definitive  manner.  It  is 
aware  how  difficult  it  is  to  introduce  the  most  sim- 
ple improvement  into  routine  operations,  because, 
against  the  employment  of  them  there  arises  nume- 
rous unforeseen  obstacles. 

It  remains  convinced,  however,  that  this  process 
may  render,  even  now,  real  services  in  all  countries 
where  dissection  meets  with  difficulties,  either  from 
the  scarcity  of  bodies,  or  from  the  prejudices  of  the 
populace. 

Taking  this  circumstance  into  consideration,  to- 
gether with  the  obstacles  which  M.  Gannal  has  en- 
countered, the  disgusts  which  he  has  had  to  sur- 
mount, in  order  to  complete  the  experiments  which 
he  has  made,  j^our  commission  has  the  honour  to 
propose  to  you  to  award  to  him,  in  anticipation,  an 
encouragement  of  three  thousand  francs,  (six  hun- 
dred dollars.) 

Report  of  a  Commission  appointed  by  the  Academy 
of  Medicine,  and  composed  of  MM.  Safison,  Roux, 
Dizi^,  Guineau  de  Miissy,  Breschet,  reporter,  to  ex- 
amine a  process  for  the  preservation  of  dead  bodies, 
discovered  and  proposed  by  M.  J.  N.  Gannal, 
chemist. 

Messieurs, — If  anatomy  is  the  basis  of  all  sound 
medical  study,  if  almost  all  those  who  have  most 
contributed  to  the  progress  of  medicine  and  surgery 
have  been  skilful  anatomists,  it  is  rendering  a  great 
service  to  those  same  sciences  and  to  humanity, 
to  discover  a  method  of  facilitating  the  study  of 
anatomy,  and  obviating  its  insalubrity.     Well,  gen- 


214  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

tlemen,  it  is  a  discovery  of  this  kind  that  M.  Gannal 
presumes  he  has  made. 

By  a  letter  dated  on  the  10th  of  March,  1835, 
addressed  to  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  by  M.  the 
Minister  of  Commerce,  this  learned  body  is  charged 
to  make  known  to  superior  authority  its  opinion  of 
the  real  merit  of  the  process  of  M.  Gannal,  for  the 
preservation  of  dead  bodies. 

In  consequence,  the  Academy  has  appointed  a 
commission  composed  of  MM.  Sanson,  Roux,  Dize, 
Gueneaude  Mussy,  and  Breschet;  it  is  in  the  name 
of  this  commission  that  I  now  present  myself  to  make 
known  to  you  the  result  of  our  labours. 

Already  two  commissions  from  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  have  been  occupied  in  the  examination  of 
this  discovery  of  M.  Gannal;  the  one,  considering 
the  process  as  useful  to  the  study  of  the  sciences 
which  concerns  the  composition  of  organized  beings ; 
the  other,  considering  it  as  a  means  of  rendering 
less  insalubrious  an  art  or  a  profession,  a  prize 
having  been  founded  for  this  purpose  by  M.  de 
Monthyon,  whose  name  will  remain  eternally  dear 
to  science  and  to  philanthropy. 

The  reasons  which  have  hindered  the  ancients 
from  carrying  to  any  great  length  a  knowledge  of 
the  structure  of  man  and  animals,  was  not  only 
the  idea  of  filthiness  attached  to  the  sight  and  dis- 
section of  dead  bodies,  or  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
the  means  of  dissection ;  but  rather  the  almost  ab- 
solute impossibility  of  preserving  dead  bodies  in 
part  or  entire,  which  has  retarded  the  progress  of 
anatomy.  Aristotle,  to  whom  Phihp  of  Macedon 
had  given  every  facility  for  the  dissection  of  animals, 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.      215 

and  who  must  have  made  collections,  does  not  say, 
in  any  of  his  known  works,  how  he  preserved  the 
animals  which  he  did  not  immediately  examine,  and 
Galien,  in  his  anatomical  administrations,  says  very 
few  words  of  the  means  of  preservation  in  liquors. 

Cuvier,  in  giving  the  history  of  the  progress  of 
the  natural  sciences,  teaches  us  that  one  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  has  the  most  contributed  to  the 
advancement  of  these  sciences  was  the  discovery  of 
alcohol. 

We  are,  however,  astonished  at  the  novelty  of 
our  means  for  the  preservation  of  animals,  for  zoolo- 
gical and  anatomical  collections,  when  we  reflect 
that  during  the  time  of  Reaumur  the  art  of  preserv- 
ing animal  bodies  with  their  natural  forms  and  co- 
lours, was  not  known.  Thus,  in  the  cabinet  of  this 
celebrated  naturalist,  are  seen  birds  skinned  and  sus- 
pended by  the  beak  with  a  thread. 

The  taxidermic  processes  have  almost  all  origi- 
nated among  us,  for  the  formation  of  zoological  col- 
lections ;  but  we  still  are  in  want  of  less  expensive 
methods,  of  easy  transport,  and  in  small  space  in 
order  to  preserve  animals  destined  to  serve  for  the 
researches  of  comparative  anatomy,  or  for  the  study 
of  the  anatomy  of  man. 

Peron,in  the  relation  of  his  voyage  to  Terra  Aus- 
tralis,  in  the  commencement  of  the  present  century, 
laments  the  embarrassment  of  zoologists  in  long  voy- 
ages, in  preser\'ing  animals,  without  altering  any  of 
their  zooloorical  characters,  and  in  a  manner  that 
they  may  serve  finally  for  anatomical  researches. 
He  says,  that  it  would  be  rendering  great  service 


216  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

to  natural  history  and  zoology,  if  the  following  pro- 
blem could  be  resolved  : 

"  Any  species  of  animal  being  given,  to  preserve 
it  the  most  certainly,  the  most  perfectly,  and  with 
the  smallest  quanity  of  an  alcoholic  liquid  of  the 
least  possible  strength." 

Alcohol  is  very  costly  in  this  country,  where  con- 
siderable duties  are  exacted,  nor  is  it  suitable  for 
preserving  bodies,  except  of  small  volume.  During 
voyages,  this  liquor  is  difficult  of  export,  evaporates 
rapidly,  particularly  in  equatorial  regions,  and 
often  bursting  the  vessels  which  contain  it ;  it  alters 
or  dissolves  the  resins  or  resinous  mastic  which  is 
used  to  seal  the  jars  or  other  vessels  which  contain 
the  animals. 

If  an  acid  be  added  to  alcohol,  the  bones  are  acted 
upon,  and  softened ;  colours  are  destroyed ;  the 
scalpels  and  other  dissecting  instruments  are 
promptly  oxidised,  when  it  is  desirable  to  dissect 
animals  preserved  in  these  liquors. 

The  same  inconveniences  exist  if  alcohol  holds 
arsenic  in  solution,  or  corrosive  sublimate,  and 
many  other  metallic  salts. 

The  essence  of  turpentine  can  only  serve  for 
small  pieces ;  it  is  not  easily  transported,  alters  se- 
veral of  the  tissues,  becomes  thick  and  clouded. 

The  oils  are  suitable  only  for  the  preservation  of 
some  fishes ;  their  acquisition  is  expensive,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  obtain  them  everyw^here. 

The  syrups  which  have  been  proposed  for  the 
preservation  of  some  animal  parts,  such  as  the  brain, 
spinal  marrow,  &c.,  are  t«o  dear  to  be  useful  to  any 
great  extent ;   besides,    they  do  no  penetrate  the 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.  217 

tissues  profoundly,  preserve  only  the  external  sur- 
faces, deposit  crystals  or  a  viscous  matter  which 
changes  the  colour ;  and,  finally,  they  run  readily 
into  fermentation,  especially  in  hot  climates. 

Creosote,  advised  of  late,  for  the  preservation  of 
the  nerves  and  brain,  is  too  costly,  but,  as  we  have 
not  made  use  of  it,  we  cannot  describe  its  mode  of 
action  upon  the  tissues. 

Sea-salt,  employed  alone  and  in  solution,  has  a 
mode  of  action  for  a  long  time  known,  and  its  in- 
efficiency cannot  be  disputed  ;  we  do  not  speak 
however,  of  saltings,  because  this  method  cannot 
answer  for  the  preservation  of  bodies  for  dissection; 
or  for  preserving  animals  from  putrefaction,  that 
they  may  be  subsequently  dissected,  or  be  placed  in 
zoological  collections. 

In  an  English  Medical  Journal,  for  the  year  1818, 
we  find,  that  it  is  proposed  to  replace  alcohol  by 
roch-salt)  for  the  preservation  of  anatomical  and  na- 
tural history  subjects,  which  is  known  to  be  nothing 
more  than  muriate  of  soda,  purer  than  that  of  com- 
merce ;  this  proposition  is  inadmissible. 

The  chlorides  of  the  oxides  of  calcium,  of  sodium, 
of  potassium,  have  been  recommended  for  some 
pieces  of  pathological  anatomy ;  but  they  are  not 
applicable  for  the  preservation  of  thick  objects,  and 
much  less  entire  subjects. 

Wine  to  which  has  been  added  a  nitrous  solution 
of  mercury,  has  been  employed  by  some  naviga- 
tors, for  the  preservation  of  small  zoological  collec- 
tions ;  its  use  cannot  be  employed  extensively. 
Acids,  more  or  less  diluted,  alter  the  tissues,  and 
attack  the  dissecting  instruments. 

23 


218  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

Aqueous  or  alcholic  solutions  of  the  salts  of  mer- 
cury, arsenical  solutions,  &c.,  are  dangerous,  by 
their  emanations,  for  the  anatomist  who  constantly 
handles  the  objects  impregnated  with  these  metallic 
salts ;  and  further  they  harden  the  tissues,  contract 
them,  destroy  their  colours,  and  attack  anatomical 
instruments. 

We  may  repeat  of  the  pyroligneous  and  acetic 
acids,  what  we  have  already  advanced  of  the  other 
acids.  Nevertheless,  it  was  proposed  about  fifteen 
years  ago,  to  use  the  pyroligneous  acid,  as  excelling 
in  its  properties  for  preserving  animals,  and  anato- 
mical subjects. 

All  acids,  not  excepting  vinegar,  attack  the  colour 
of  organic  tissues,  corrode  them,  and  deprive  the 
bones  of  their  earthy  salts,  rendering  them  flexible 
and  transparent,  and  cover  the  soft  parts  with  a 
layer  of  gluey  matter  which  conceals  the  fibres  and 
the  structure  of  the  parts.  It  is  known  that  alum 
and  nitre  are  employed  separately  in  aqueous  solu- 
tion, to  preserve  anatomical  preparations,  during  the 
time  of  their  fabrication.  It  is  known  that  anato- 
mists employ  nitre,  or  simply  saltpetre  of  commerce, 
not  only  to  preserve  the  fleshy  tissues,*  but  to  give 
a  lively  red  colour  to  the  flesh. 

We  have  thus,  gentlemen,  in  a  cursory  manner, 
exposed  the  ordinary  methods  proposed  or  employed 
for  the  preservation  of  animal  matters. 

In  order  to  respond  to  the  Academy  upon  the 
merits  of  the  discovery  of  M.  Gannal,  we  will  say 
that  his  process  consists  of  an  aqueous  solution  of 

*  Nitre  possesses  no  preservative  properties. — TV. 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     219 

three  salts,  already  employed  separately  in  the  ana- 
tomical laboratory,  nitre,  common  salt,  and  alum. 

We  have  caused  to  be  repeated  under  our  inspec- 
tion the  experiments  of  M.  Gannal.  In  the  course 
of  last  March,  two  bodies  were  placed  in  a  bathing 
tub  six  feet  six  inches  long,  sixteen  inches  wide,  and 
twenty  incheshigh.  A  liquor  was  poured  upon  these 
bodies,  composed  of  acid  sulphate  of  alumine,  and  of 
potash,  of  the  chloride  of  sodium  of  each  two  parts, 
and  one  part  of  nitrate  of  potash. 

The  water  which  contains  these  salts  in  solution 
was  in  sufficient  quantity  to  cause  the  Hquor  to 
stand  at  fifteen  degrees  of  the  areometer ;  that  is 
to  say,  and  according  to  the  indication  of  M.  Gannal, 
that  the  liquid  should  mark  from  seven  to  eight  de- 
o-rees  during:  winter,  and  from  twelve  to  fifteen  dur- 
ing  summer. 

The  tub  was  placed  in  one  of  the  pavilions  of 
the  Practical  School;  and  in  the  same  room  there 
were  a  great  number  of  tables  covered  with  dead 
bodies  for  the  study  of  practical  anatomy.  At  the  end 
of  two  months,  the  two  bodies  were  withdrawn  from 
the  bath,  and  dissected;  no  change  had  taken  place 
in  their  exterior  aspect ;  the  tissues  and  internal  or- 
gans were  ascertained  to  be  well  preserved,  and 
capable  of  serving  for  anatomical  demonstrations. 

Other  subjects  have  been  examined  by  the  com- 
mission of  the  Academy  of  Sciences ;  they  had  re- 
mained in  the  same  liquor  since  the  2d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1834,  and  were  still  sound  at  the  end  of  April, 
1835. 

We  thought  it  our  duty  to  exact  of  M.  Gannal 
some  other  experiments ;  thus,  we  desired  to  see  in- 


220       GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE 

jections  with  this  preservative  liquor,  of  the  arterial 
system ;  we  caused  another  subject  to  be  injected 
with  ordinary  fatty  matter ;  and  at  a  later  period  we 
had  injected  into  the  vessels  of  the  subject  which 
had  received  the  preservative  liquor,  a  matter  com- 
posed of  suet,  and  of  resin,  in  equal  parts,  and  co- 
loured with  cinabar,  (sulphate  of  mercury.)  This 
last  injection  was  successful.  The  first  injection  of 
saline  liquid  exacted  eight  quarts  of  the  liquid, 
which  was  introduced  through  the  left  ventricle  of 
the  heart. 

The  subject  examined  at  the  end  of  two  months, 
was  well  preserved,  did  not  exhale  any  fetid  odour, 
and  might  serve  for  the  common  dissection  of  stu- 
dents. 

The  commission  were  desirous  to  know  whether 
a  body  would  rapidly  putrefy,  if  it  were  withdrawn 
from  the  tub  and  left  upon  the  table  of  the  amphi- 
theatre, exposed  to  the  air,  and  to  the  influence  of  the 
putred  emanations  from  the  other  bodies.  A  sub- 
ject was  accordingly  withdrawn  from  the  preserva- 
tive saline  liquor,  and  remained  fifteen  days  exposed 
to  the  air ;  no  sensible  putrefaction  took  place  dur- 
ing this  time  ;  this  was  during  the  last  fifteen  days  of 
April.  The  muscles  of  the  corpse  were  seen  to  dry, 
and,  so  to  speak,  to  mummify,  whilst  the  tissues  which 
had  not  come  in  contact  with  the  saline  liquid,  or 
which  had  not  been  uncovered  and  exposed  to  the 
air,  remained  still  in  a  state  which  permitted  an 
anatomical  analysis. 

We  ought  to  remark,  that  the  tissues  which  are 
bathed  by  the  liquid  lose  their  natural  colours  ;  but 
the  more  deeply  disposed  organs  did  not  experience 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.  221 

the  same  change  ;  there  was  no  emphysema  in  the 
cellular  tissue,  although  we  thought  we  remarked 
that  there  was  less  resistance  in  the  fibres  of  the 
organs,  than  in  a  subject  dead  for  twenty-four  or 
forty-eight  hours. 

We  may  remark,  that  under  no  circumstances 
were  long  and  deep  scarifications  made  on  the 
trunk  or  members,  in  order  to  allow  the  liquid  to 
penetrate  the  thickness  of  the  tissues.  The  cranium 
itself  was  not  opened,  nor  was  there  any  application 
of  the  trephine,  in  order  to  permit  a  more  ready  en- 
trance of  the  liquor  to  the  meninges,  or  to  the  brain 
itself  Nevertheless,  after  more  than  two  months 
immersion  in  the  liquor,  the  brain,  extracted  from 
the  cranium,  if  it  could  no  longer  serve  for  new  re- 
searches on  its  structure,  might  have  been  employed 
for  demonstrations. 

But,  for  how  much  longer  time  could  this  preser- 
vation be  continued  ?  What  temperature  is  it  capa- 
ble of  resisting  ?  And  what  expense  does  it  require  ? 
In  fine,  can  the  discovery  be  extensively  applied  ? 
That  is  to  say,  is  it  possible,  by  this  process,  to  pre- 
serve a  great  number  of  subjects  during  summer,  to 
deliver  them  later  to  the  students  during  the  season 
of  dissection  ?  And  if  these  subjects,  thus  preserved, 
exhale  no  odour,  become  in  no  manner  a  cause  of 
insalubrity,  or  of  danger  to  the  students,  for  the 
anatomists  themselves,  or  for  the  persons  who  in- 
habit the  houses  adjoining  the  anatomical  amphi- 
theatre, might  not  the  diss'ections  be  indefinitely 
prolonged,  in  place  of  permitting  them  only  during 
the  rigors  of  winter  ? 

In  fine,  has  this  saline  liquor  of  M.  Gannal  pre- 


222  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

servative  properties  sufficiently  pronounced  to  be 
employed  during  long  voyages,  and  in  hot  climates, 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  home  numerous  animals 
of  large  size,  to  serve  for  the  study  of  comparative 
anatomy  ? 

The  small  volume  which  saline  substances  oc- 
cupy, and  the  sea  water,  which  might  serve  to  make 
the  solution  of  the  salts  in  any  quantity  as  soon  as 
needed,  would  be  circumstances  favourable  to  the 
use  of  this  process. 

In  order  to  answer  all  these  questions,  it  would  be 
requisite  to  multiply  the  experiments,  to  extend  them 
during  a  much  longer  period,  and  upon  a  very  great 
number  of  subjects. 

These  experiments,  directed  in  this  spirit,  would 
exact  expenses  which  we  thought  ought  not  to  be 
imposed  upon  the  author  of  the  process  for  the  pre- 
servation of  dead  bodies,  who  has  already  been  sub- 
jected to  a  multiplicity  of  demands,  for  the  reim- 
bursement of  which  we  propose  an  indemnity  from 
the  Academy,  without  prejudice  to  the  recompense 
which  M.  Gannal  may  have  a  right  to  claim,  when 
the  experiments  shall  have  received  that  extension 
which  we  wish  to  be  able  to  give  them. 

However  this  may  be,  we  thought,  in  this  provi- 
sionary  report,  that  we  ought  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  Academy,  and  of  superior  authority,  to  the 
process  of  preservation  discovered  by  M.  Gannal, 
and  we  manifest  the  desire  that  a  sum  be  awarded 
to  him  as  an  indemnification  for  expenses  already 
accrued,  and  in  order  to  facilitate  the  means  of  con- 
tinuing his  experiments  on  a  large  scale. 

We  shall   add  that  this  process  of  preservation 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     223 

may  be  very  advantageously  applied  to  various  cases 
of  legal  medicine. 

Paris,  16th  June,  1835. 

Signed,  MM.  Gueneau  de  Mussy, 

DizE, 
Roux, 
Sanson, 

Breschet,  Reporter. 
Certified. — The  perpetual  Secretary  of  the  Aca- 
demy of  Medicine. 

Signed,  Pariset. 

The  first  report  of  MM.  the  members  of  the  com- 
mission named  by  the  Academy  of  Medicine  was 
only  pro\*isionary ;  new  facts  were  discovered  to  en- 
Hghten  the  conscience  of  the  judges ;  these  facts 
were  presented,  and  the  following  report  read  to  the 
Academy  by  M.  Dize. 

Defnitive  report  of  the  commission  named  hy  the 
Academy  of  Medicine,  to  examine  the  process  of 
preserving  dead  bodies,  presented  by  M.  Gannal. 

GentlemexV, — The  Academy  had  formed  a  com- 
mission composed  of  MM.  Sanson,  Gueneau  de 
Mussy,  Breschet,  Roux,  and  Dize,  to  make  known 
the  results  of  a  process  presented  by  M.  Gannal, 
having  for  its  object  the  preservation  of  dead  bodies 
destined  for  dissection. 

Our  honourable  colleague,  M.  Breschet,  presented, 
in  a  provisionary  report,  the  experiments  which 
had  been  made,  and  the  success  obtained  by  M. 
Gannal. 

But  the  commission  having  expressed  a  desire  to 


224  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

give  more  development  to  trials  which,  after  the  im- 
portant results  already  obtained,  deserved  to  fix  the 
attention  of  the  Academy,  it  proposed  to  him  to 
multiply,  to  vary  the  experiments,  to  extend  them 
a  longer  time  upon  a  greater  number  of  subjects. 

But  trials  directed  in  this  spirit,  exact  expenses ; 
the  commission  did  not  think  it  just  to  impose  them 
upon  the  author  of  the  process,  who  had  already 
multiplied  expenses  ;  in  consequence  it  proposed  to 
the  Academy  to  demand  an  indemnity  of  govern- 
ment for  expenses  already  made,  and  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  experiments,  without  any  prejudice  to 
the  recompense  that  M.  Gannal  would  have  a  right 
to  claim. 

The  Academy  seconded  the  wishes  of  the  com- 
mission ;  it  obtained  from  the  minister  of  public  in- 
struction the  sum  necessary  for  covering  all  ex- 
penses made,  and  for  those  to  be  made  in  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  experiments. 

.M  Gannal  made  a  series  of  preliminary  experi- 
ments, which  served  him  as  so  many  starting  points 
on  the  road  to  the  discovery  of  the  means  of  preserv- 
ing animal  matters ;  these  labours  subsequently  con- 
ducted to  the  research  of  an  antiseptic  sufficiently 
powerful,  which  unites  to  the  property  of  preserv- 
ing bodies,  that  of  not  altering  the  organic  tissues, 
and  not  too  much  weakening  their  natural  colours, 
so  important  to  anatomical  demonstrations. 

We  shall  cite  the  most  important  experiments,  so 
that  you  may  be  able  to  appreciate  the  process  which 
is  proposed. 

In  the  first  place,  acids  in  general  modify  the  con- 
sistence of  animal  matters  ;  they  produce  disorgani- 


GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE       225 

zation  in  proportion  to  their  concentration ;  some 
diluted  acids,  for  example,  nitric  acid  at  five  degrees, 
may  serve  when  it  is  necessary  to  study  the  nervous 
system,  but  then  the  bones  lose  their  saline  particles 
and  are  reduced  to  their  organic  frame ;  the  mus- 
cles are  discolored  and  faded,  as  well  as  the  viscera ; 
the  nerves  alone  remain  of  a  very  remarkable  mo- 
ther-of-pearl whiteness. 

Arsenious  acid  preserves  bodies  very  well,  but  a 
single  subject  would  require  a  killogram !  Although 
the  medical  journals  having  spoken  of  a  process  dis- 
covered by  Dr.  Tranchini,  of  Naples,  the  commis- 
sion judged  it  expedient  to  invite  M.  Gannal  to  re- 
peat this  experiment ;  a  subject  was  injected  with  a 
killogram  of  arsenious  acid  and  ten  quarts  of  water  ; 
this  subject  examined  by  your  commission,  pre- 
sented all  the  characters  of  a  good  preservation ;  but, 
on  one  hand,  this  process  has  been  for  a  long  time 
knoM^i,  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  employment  of 
it  presents  so  many  dangers,  that  in  case  of  its  suc- 
cess your  commission  would  feel  themselves  obliged 
to  proscribe  it ;  effectually,  when  twenty  subjects 
were  under  dissection,  there  would  be  twenty  killo- 
grams  of  this  poisonous  substance  at  the  disposition 
of  the  public. 

Concentrated  acetic  acid  preserves  meats,  but  dries 
them.  This  same  acid  diluted  retards  putrefaction, 
but  softens  the  bones,  as  well  as  the  muscles,  which 
are  discolored  by  its  action. 

The  alkaline  salts  only  preserve  meats  when 
they  are  used  dry,  or  in  a  very  concentrated  solu- 
tion ;  it  is  necessary  in  this  case  that  the  salts  pre- 
serve an  affinity  for  the  water  of  composition,  so 

29 


226  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

that  it  may  be  said  that  these  salts  preserve  meats 
because  they  dry  them ;  thus,  on  this  principle,  salts 
more  soluble  in  warm,  than  in  cold  water,  may,  in- 
jected as  a  warm  concentrated  solution,  be  consi- 
dered as  a  means  of  preservation ;  this  applies  par- 
ticularly to  the  nitrate  of  potash. 

Creosote,  a  newly  discovered  vegetable  substance 
has  been  recommended  as  a  preservative  of  flesh ; 
this  fact  demanded  verification  :  a  corpse  w^hich  had 
been  injected  on  the  18th  of  October,  with  one  hun- 
dred scruples  of  creosote  and  seven  quarts  of  water, 
was  decomposed  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month.* 
But,  in  order  to  respond  to  the  objection  which  was 
made,  that  the  body  should  have  been  immersed  in 
a  bath  saturated  with  creosote,  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  this  bath  would  have  cost  forty  dollars ;  besides 
the  necessity  of  combatting  the  odour  of  the  creosote, 
which  may  prove  an  obstacle  to  anatomical  labours. 

A  solution  of  alum  at  eight  degrees  has  succeeded 
better  ;  but  the  flesh  becomes  hardened,  faded,  and 
friable. 

The  mixture  of  alum,  (acid  sulphate  of  alumine, 
and  potash,)  two  parts,  the  chloride  of  sodium  two 
parts,  and  of  nitrate  of  potash  one  part,  dissolved  in 
water,  employed  as  a  bath^  has  afforded  the  first 
good  results. 

The  acid  phosphate  of  lime  is  the  first  substance 

♦  To  have  given  the  creosote  a  fair  trial  it  should  have  been  injected  undi- 
luted with  water;  no  one  who  has  tried  this  curious  product  will  deny 
that  it  possesses  the  most  powerful  antiseptic  properties.  I  have  used 
it  formerly  very  successfully  in  my  dissecting  rooms  for  purifying  sub- 
jects dead  of  mortification,  foul  ulcerations,  or  tainted  by  decomposition, 
especially  the  viscera.  A  small  quantity  of  the  creosote  passed  over  the 
surface  of  these  with  a  feather,  immediately  removes  the  fetid  odours. 

TV. 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     227 

which  has  been  employed  in  injection  for  subjects ; 
this  salt  did  not  oppose  the  movement  of  putrefac- 
tion. 

The  kidnies,  injected  with  this  salt,  and  immersed 
in  the  milk  ofUme,  became  hardened  at  the  surface 
and  putrefied  in  the  interior. 

After  this  first  part  of  the  experiments  of  M. 
Gannal,  it  results  that  the  aluminous  salts  are 
those  alone  which  succeed  well  in  preserving  animal 
matters,  and  which  may  be  used  advantageously. 

Alum,  employed  alone,  preserves  well,  but  for  a 
short  time  ;  this  salt,  slightly  soluble  in  cold  water, 
(fifteen  degrees,)  will  not  suffice  as  an  injection  for 
the  preservation  of  a  body ;  it  is  indispensable  to  im- 
merse the  body  in  a  bath  of  the  same  salt. 

The  mixture  of  alum,  salt,  and  nitre,  as  indicated 
in  the  provisionary  report,  has  not  the  same  incon- 
venience ;  a  subject  injected  with  this  liquid,  at  ten 
or  twelve  degrees  of  density,  may  be  preserved  for 
more  than  a  month  ;  but  it  is  indispensable  to  im- 
merse it,  at  least  from  time  to  time,  when  it  is  desi- 
rable to  prolong  its  preservation ;  that  is  to  say,  for 
the  entire  winter ;  but  at  a  temperature  above  fifteen 
degrees,  it  is  necessary  to  inject  the  liquid  at  a  den- 
sity of  twenty-five  or  thirty  degrees,  and,  in  order 
to  obtain  it,  it  requires  to  be  heated  at  least  to  forty 
degrees. 

Several  bodies  injected  with  this  liquid  at  ten  de- 
grees, on  the  2d  of  December,  1834,  were  well  pre- 
served until  the  end  of  April ;  other  subjects,  injected 
on  the  7th  of  August,  but  with  the  liquid  at  twenty- 
five  degrees  of  density,  and  at  ten  degrees  of  the 
thermometer,  were  still,  on  the  10th  of  December 


228  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

in  good  condition,  whilst  those  that  were  injected 
with  a  liquor  of  inferior  density,  did  not  resist  a 
temperature  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  degrees,  al- 
though they  were  immersed  in  a  bath  denoting  fif- 
teen degrees.-  The  bath  of  salted  liquid  has,  inde- 
pendently of  the  inconvenience  of  expense  for  the 
necessary  salts  and  the  embarrassment  of  the  tubes, 
which  require  frequent  renewal,  the  objection  of 
hardening  the  skin,  considerably. 

On  these  motives  new  eiforts  have  been  made, 
which  have  conducted  to  the  following  results :  to  de- 
monstrate that  all  the  salts  with  a  soluble  aluminous 
base,  are  decomposed ;  that  those  which  are  very 
soluble  offer  all  the  advantages  of  alum  employed 
in  very  concentrated  solution,  and  have  not  the 
same  inconveniences. 

For  example,  a  solution  of  acetate  of  alumine  at 
twenty  degrees,  injected  the  16th  of  August,  1835, 
perfectly  preserved  a  subject  abandoned  to  the  table 
without  any  other  preparation ;  only,  at  the  end  of 
a  month  it  was  remarked  that  desiccation  had  com- 
menced ;  when  a  part  of  it  was  covered  with  a  layer 
of  varnish,  which  preserved  it  from  futher  evapora- 
tion. At  the  present  day,  25th  January,  1836,  the 
varnished  part  may  be  dissected  as  easily  as  a  fresh 
subject,  whilst  the  other  part  offers  resistance  to  dis- 
section. 

During  the  first  days  of  September,  another  sub- 
ject was  injected  with  acetate  of  alumine  at  fifteen 
degrees  ;  although  this  was  the  corpse  of  a  woman 
who  had  died  from  abortion,  it  was  very  well  pre- 
served . 

On  the  1 2th  of  December,  a  subject  was  injected 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     229 

with  the  chloride  of  alumine  at  twenty  degrees; 
this  injection  did  not  succeed  well,  and  only  three 
quarts  could  be  introduced.  Nevertheless,  the  body 
was  perfectly  well  preserved.  This  want  of  success 
in  introducing  the  liquid  led  to  the  following  obser- 
vation ;  that  the  chloride  of  aluminium  at  twenty 
degrees  acts  sopowerfuUy  on  the  arterial  tabes  and 
obliterates  them  to  such  a  degree,  that  it  prevents 
the  passage  of  the  liquid  ;  but  in  order  to  remedy 
this  inconvenience,  it  suffices  to  inject  a  first  quart 
of  the  liquid  at  ten  degrees,  and  the  rest  at  twenty 
degrees.  The  chloride  of  aluminium  has  all  the 
advantages  of  the  acetate  of  alumine,  and  has  further 
that  of  preserving  the  muscles  of  a  bright  red. 

A  mixture  of  acetate  of  alumine  at  ten  degrees,  and 
the  chloride  of  the  same  base  at  twenty  degrees, 
forms  a  good  preservative  injection.  The  use  of 
one  of  these  salts,  or  the  mixture  that  has  just  been 
indicated,  offers  the  advantage  of  preserving  bodies, 
without  its  being  necessary  to  svibject  them  to  any 
other  preparation. 

The  density  of  the  solutions  of  the  acetate  and 
chloride  of  aluminium  must  be  graduated  by  the 
state  of  the  atmosphere.  When  it  is  required  to 
prolong  indefinitely  the  preservation  of  the  subject, 
it  is  essential  to  employ  it  at  twenty  degrees ;  it  is 
equally  necessary,  in  this  case,  to  cover  the  subject 
with  a  layer  of  varnish,  the  sole  object  of  which  is 
to  prevent  the  too  prompt  desiccation,  which  would 
prove  an  obstacle  to  dissection. 

The  first  injections  were  made  through  the  aorta. 
Subsequently,  in  order  to  avoid  the  laceration  of  the 


230  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

pectoral  parts,  the  subject  was  injected  through  the 
carotid  artery,  which  always  succeeded  very  well 
when  the  liquid  was  forced  both  upward  and  down- 
ward. 

After  the  saline  injection,  at  the  end  of  forty-eight 
hours,  coloured  grease  may  be  injected;  even  after 
two  months  the  same  operation  may  be  performed 
with  the  same  success. 

From  the  series  of  experiments  which  we  have 
just  exposed,  it  results : 

1.  That  a  solution  of  alum,  of  salt,  and  of  nitrate 
of  potash,  injected  at  ten  degrees,  answers  for  pre- 
serving bodies  at  a  temperature  below  ten  degrees 
of  the  thermometer ;  that,  for  a  more  elevated  tem- 
perature, it  is  necessary  to  carry  the  density  to 
twenty -five  or  thirty  degrees,  and  immerse  the  sub- 
ject in  a  liquid  of  ten  or  twelve  degrees. 

2.  That  it  is  preferable  to  employ  the  acetate  of 
alumine,  because  it  preserves  better ;  as  the  skin  ex- 
periences no  alteration,  and  as  the  central  organs 
remain  natural.,  excepting  the  colour  of  the  muscles 
which  become  bleached. 

3.  That  the  chloride  of  aluminium  offers  the 
same  advantages. 

4.  That,  in  order  to  preserve  parts  of  bodies  which 
have  not  been  injected,  it  is  necessary  to  immerse 
them  in  a  mixture  of  water,  and  of  the  acetate  or 
chloride,  marking  five  or  six  degrees. 

But  this  part  of  the  operation  is  transferred  to  the 
experiments  which  are  to  be  undertaken  on  the  pre- 
servation of  objects  of  pathological  anatomy. 

Gentlemen,  such  are  the  series  of  experiments 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.      231 

made  by  M.  Gannal,  since  the  first  pro  visionary  re- 
port was  presented  to  you. 

The  commission  has  attentively  followed  the  new 
experiments ;  the  results  obtained,  demonstrate  that 
by  M.  Gannal's  process  bodies  for  dissection  may 
be  preserved,  and  the  preservation  prolonged  be- 
yond the  term  exacted  by  the  most  minute  investi- 
gations. 

As  we  have  already  stated,  the  soluble  salts  with 
an  aluminous  base,  offer  this  preservative  method 
without  any  danger  in  their  use,  and  they  can  also 
be  procured  at  a  low  price. 

Their  antiseptic  properties  are  founded  on  their 
chemical  action,  which  modifies  animal  substances 
either  by  depriving  them  of  their  water  of  composi- 
tion, which  determines  their  putrefaction,  or  in  op- 
posing themselves  to  its  immediate  action. 

It  is,  then,  only  an  act  of  justice  rendered  to  M. 
Gannal,  in  considering  his  labour  as  an  important 
service  rendered  to  science  and  to  humanity,  and 
which  may  prove  of  great  utility  in  anatomical  ex- 
plorations, and  in  legal  medicine. 

Consequently,  your  commission  has  the  honour 
to  propose  to  you  the  transmission  of  the  present  re- 
port— 

1.  To  the  Minister  of  Pubhc  Instruction,  as  an 
object  of  improvement  in  anatomical  researches, 
and  to  reclaim  the  continuation  of  his  good  offices, 
in  affording  extension  to  the  experiments  for  pre- 
serving objects  of  pathological  anatomy. 

2.  To  the  Minister  of  Commerce  and  of  Public 
Works,  as  an  object  of  public  salubrity.  On  the 
proposition  of  a  member  of  the  Academy,  it  was 


232  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

unanimously  decided  to  send  the  present  report  to 
the  committee  of  publication. 

Signed,  MM.  Gueneau  de  Mussy, 

Sanson, 
Breschet, 
Roux, 

DizE,  Reporter. 
Certified. — The  perpetual  Secretary  of  the  xA.ca- 
demy  of  Medicine. 

Signed,  Pariset. 

Reflections. — The  mixture  of  the  acid  sulphate  of 
alumine  and  potash,  of  the  nitrate  of  potash,  and  the 
chloride  of  sodium,  furnished  me,  at  first,  with  some 
favourable  results.  But  when  new  experiments  were 
attempted  at  a  temperature  above  10°  of  centigrade, 
this  liquid,  which  I  only  employed  as  a  bath,  did 
not  answer  my  expectations.  I  then  tried  to  inject 
bodies  with  concentrated  solution,  which  were  after- 
wards consigned  to  a  bath  of  the  same  nature.  The 
preservation  was  thus  rendered  more  durable ;  but 
still  it  did  not  balance  the  influence  of  an  atmos- 
phere very  warm  and  very  humid,  prolonged  for 
any  length  of  time. 

I  observed  that  after  twenty-four  hours  of  immer- 
sion of  the  bodies  in  the  bath,  all  the  alumine  was 
absorbed :  this  fact,  well  established,  was  a  gleam 
of  light  to  me. 

Since  the  preservation  is  produced  by  the  com- 
bination of  geline  with  alumine,  and  as  the  alumine 
furnished  by  the  acid  sulphate  does  not  inherit 
enough  of  the  preservative  element,  let  us  have  re- 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  AN  ATOM  V,  &LC.     233 

course  to  the  salts  of  alum,  richer  in  alumine,  and 
more  soluble  in  water. 

The  following  are  the  data  on  which  I  rely  : 

To  find  a  salt  of  alum  capable  of  effectually  pre- 
seroing  bodies,  and  which,  by  the  moderation  of  its 
price,  may  be  extensively  employed  in  amphitheatres. 
I  abandoned  my  trials  with  the  nitrate  of  alumine, 
this  being  excluded  by  its  high  price.  The  chloride 
of  alumine,  Avith  which  I  had  experimented,  is  lia- 
ble to  equal  objections :  1.  Because,  owing  to  its  exces- 
sive affinity  for  water,  it  instantaneously  dries  the 
internal  membrane  of  the  artery,  and  obliterates  the 
canal,  rendering  it  impossible  to  finish  the  injec- 
tion. 2.  Besides,  admitting  the  injection  to  have  been 
completed  by  the  introduction,  in  the  first  place,  of 
a  little  oil  of  turpentine,  the  hydrochloric  acid  con- 
tained in  the  flesh  injures  the  instruments,  and  im- 
pedes dissection.  Further,  the  chloride  of  alumi- 
nium, like  all  the  soluble  chlorides,  is  a  bad  agent 
in  dissections,  being  hygrometric. 

The  acetate  of  alumine  is  an  excellent  preserva- 
tive of  animal  matters,  as  will  be  seen  by  referring 
to  the  observation  cited  at  the  end  of  the  last  chap- 
ter ;  but  it  is  costly,  and  on  this  account  cannot  be 
employed  in  amphitheatres. 

It  was  necessary,  then,  to  search  for  a  more  eco- 
nomical method  ;  tliis  I  have  found  in  the  simple  sul- 
phate of  alumine.  This  salt,  but  indifferently  known, 
no'  one  having  thought  of  it  before  me,  is  of  a  sim- 
ple preparation  and  moderate  price. 

A  killogram  of  this  salt,  costing  about  twenty 
cents,  dissolved  in  two  quarts  of  water,  is  suffcient 

30 


234       GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE 

in  winter  to  preserve  a  body  fresh,  hy  injection,  fm 
three  months. 

In  order  to  preserve  a  body  for  a  month  or  sii 
weeks,  it  is  not  even  necessary  to  inject  the  blood 
vessels — a  glyster  of  one  quart,  and  the  same  quan 
tity  injected  into  the  oesophagus,  suffices  for  this  li 
mited preservation.    This  process  is  adopted  at  Cla- 
rriart  for  all  the  dead  bodies  destined  for  dissection. 
The  preservative  power  of  this  salt  will  be  easily 
understood,  if  its  analysis  be  compared  with  that  of 
the  double  sulphate  given  above. 

One  hundred  parts  of  simple  sulphate  of  alumine, 
are  composed  of  alumine  30,  of  sulphuric  acid  70. 
This  salt  properly  prepared,  exempt  from  iron,  com- 
monly contains  from  thirty-six  to  forty  for  OjO  of 
water. 

The  following  is  a  table  of  the  different  densities 
of  this  salt,  according  to  the  quantity  of  water  in 
which  it  is  dissolved. 

A  killogram  dissolved  in  five  hundred  scruples  of 
water  gives  a  quart  of  liquid  which  marks  32°  on 
the  areometer  of  Baume. 

This  same  quantity  in  a  quart  of  water 
Marks,  20° 

In  two  quarts,  17' 
In  four  quarts,  8° 
In  five  quarts,         6° 

This  table  is  important,  as  it  gives  the  compesi- 
tion  of  the  different  liquids  of  which  we  shall  see 
the  application. 

The  liquid  of  injection,  of  which  we  have  indi- 
cated the  preparation  and  the  quantity,  is  sufficient 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATO:\IY,  &C.     235 

during  winter,  and  moderate  temperatures;  but 
when  it  passes  20-^  it  ought  to  be  more  abundant,  or 
the  solution  more  concentrated. 

When  it  is  intended  to  preserve  the  body  for  a 
longer  period,  it  is  necessary  to  neutralize  the  sul- 
phuric acid,  which  is  taken  up  by  the  addition  of  ace- 
tate of  lead.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  scruples  of  this 
salt  for  one  killogram  of  the  dry  sulphate  produces 
the  desired  effect.  If  the  preservation  is  to  be  in- 
definitely prolonged,  the  use  of  the  acetate  of  lead 
will  have  a  tendency  at  length  to  blacken  the  epi- 
dermis. Indeed,  as  it  is  impossible  to  cause  all  the 
lead  to  disappear,  the  small  quantity  of  this  salt  re- 
maining in  the  liquid  will  be  then  decomposed  by 
the  hvdro-sulphuric  acid  disengaged  by  the  corpse, 
or  rather  by  the  sulphur  which  it  contains,  and  the 
salt  of  lead  is  changed  into  sulphuret,  a  black  in- 
soluble powder,  giving  to  the  body  all  the  exterior 
aspect  of  the  negro. 

I  preserved  in  my  cabinet  an  infant  treated  after  this 
method ;  its  skin,  after  the  lapse  of  a  year,  became 
black,  not  of  that  colour  assumed  by  animal  matters 
in  drying,  but  of  the  finest  negro  colour  that  could 
be  conceived. 

I  finish  Avith  these  details ;  for  the  facts  of  pro- 
longed preservation  of  which  we  have  just  spoken 
are  derived  from  the  wants  of  the  anatomists ;  and, 
previous  to  proceeding  to  other  considerations,  it  is 
best  to  exhaust  all  that  we  have  to  make  known 
concerning  my  processes  of  preservation  applied  in 
amphitheatres  to  subjects  intended  to  be  dissected. 
The   preservation  of  these  subjects,  it  is   known, 


236       GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE 

would  be  prolonged  without  any  advantage  beyond 
two  or  three  months  at  all  seasons. 

I  shall  therefore  terminate  all  that  is  relative  to 
this  first  portion  of  my  labour,  by  the  report  of  the 
committee  of  the  members  of  the  Institute.  They 
have  admitted  the  result  of  my  labours  to  be  of  great 
utility,  and  that  it  merits  the  encouragement  of  the 
grand  Monthyon  prize,  founded  on  the  discovery 
of  any  means  calculated  to  remedy  the  insalubrity 
of  any  art  or  profession. 

The  following  is  the  report : 

Upon  the  'preservation  of  the  dead  body,  hy  M. 
Gannal. 

The  Academy  is  well  aware,  having  recom- 
mended an  encouragement  to  the  author,  that  M. 
Gannal  has  made  numerous  experiments  on  the 
preservation  of  dead  bodies,  either  with  the  view  of 
making  dissecting  amphitheatres  more  healthful,  or 
to  obtain  a  method  of  embalming  at  the  same  time 
economical  and  certain. 

As  far  as  concerns  embalming  of  dead  bodies,  it 
will  be  conceded  that  before  advancing  an  opinion, 
it  would  be  necessary  to  prolong  the  proofs  for  se- 
veral years,  which  has  not  yet  been  accomplished 
for  the  process  under  consideration.  Besides,  as 
this  investigation  would  be  without  the  bounds  of 
the  duties  of  your  commission  on  noxious  arts,  even 
when  it  shall  have  attained  perfection,  we  were  only 
disposed  to  examine  it  under  the  head  of  instruction. 
The  judgment  which  we  are  about  to  give  should 
then  be  considered  as  applying  exclusively  to  pro- 
cesses concerning  the  amphitheatres  of  dissection. 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.  237 

In  this  latter  case,  the  experiments  bein^  less  te- 
dious, could  be  varied  and  multiplied  sufficiently  to 
demonstrate  that  we  actually  possess  a  process  ca- 
pable of  preserving  dead  bodies,  during  the  longest 
period  that  the  most  minute  dissection  could  exact. 

This  process  is  of  an  easy  and  economical  execu- 
tion; it  consists  in  the  employment  of  matters  which 
have  nothing  poisonous  in  them.  In  fine,  after 
many  trials,  the  author  has  fixed  upon  the  following 
method :  he  injects  an  aluminous  salt  dissolved  in 
w^ater,  by  one  of  the  carotids  ;  a  few  quarts  of  the  li- 
quid is  sufficient,  and  the  body  abandoned  to  the 
open  air  is  preserved  for  a  long  time  from  putrefac- 
tion ;  sometimes  it  even  ends  in  becoming  dry  or 
mummified. 

The  author  made  use  of  the  acetate  of  alumine, 
prepared  by  the  acetate  of  lead  and  the  sulphate  of 
alumine  and  potash.  This  acetate  of  alumine  at 
IS''  of  the  areometer  of  Baume,  and  in  the  quantity 
of  five  or  six  quarts,  is  sufficient  to  preserve  a  body 
for  five  or  six  months. 

He  has  also  used  the  simple  sulphate  of  alumine 
in  order  to  procure  the  acetate  of  this  base.  With 
one  killogram  of  the  simple  sulphate  of  alumine  in 
mass,  two  hundred  and  ten  grains  of  acetate  of 
lead,  and  two  quarts  of  water,  may  be  obtained,  the 
necessary  quantity  of  the  mixture  to  preserve  a  body 
for  two  months. 

By  the  employment  of  these  processes,  the  pre- 
servation of  bodies  without  odour  may  be  calcu- 
lated upon,  for  twenty  days,  a  month,  six  weeks, 
more  or  less,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  tem- 
perature, state  of  the  body,  and  quantity  of  the  li- 
quor actually  injected  into  the  vessels. 


238  GENERAL    PROCESSES   FOR    THE 

Your  commissioners  have  assured  themselves  of 
this  by  the  examination  of  bodies  prepared  by  M. 
Gannal,  but  not  wishing  to  report  on  their  own  judg- 
ment, and  in  order  to  obtain  a  full  conviction  of  the 
practical  utility  of  the  process,  it  determined  to  con- 
sult those  persons  who  were  continually  occupied 
in  dissection.     Their  opinion  was  unanimous. 

Among  the  experiments  or  applications  of  which 
the  process  of  M.  Gannal,  has  been  the  object,  we 
shall  place  in  the  first  rank  the  series  of  facts  ob- 
served by  our  honourable  associate  M.  Serres.  The 
following  are  the  details  which  he  has  transmitted 
to  use  on  this  subject. 

^'  In  the  month  of  June,  1836,  in  the  amphithea- 
tre of  the  hospital,  the  body  of  a  man  twenty-two 
years  of  age  was  injected.  Abandoned  to  the  open 
air,  in  a  cabinet  exposed  to  the  south,  and  upon  a 
wooden  table,  it  was  preserved  until  the  month  of 
September,  and  it  ended  in  becoming  mummified. 

"  In  the  month  of  July,  eight  bodies  were  injected 
for  dissection,  each  during  fifteen  days. 

'■'■  During  the  months  of  August  and  September, 
sixty  subjects  were  injected  ;  these  were  preserved 
for  twenty  days. 

"  From  these  experiments,  adds  M.  Serres,  it  re- 
sults that  the  liquid  furnished  by  M.  Gannal  pre- 
serves bodies  to  a  certain  extent : 

"  I.  Permitting  their  dissection  during  summer, 
a  thing  which  has  not  been  accomplished  heretofore 
'vci  the  anatomical  school  of  the  hospitals.  2.  Per- 
mitting to  give  to  the  instruction  of  operative  medi- 
cine a  development  which,  up  to  the  present  period, 
it  had  not  enjoyed  ;  for,  during  the  months  of  Au- 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.      230 

gust  and  September,  we  were  enabled  to  preserve, 
as  in  the  middle  of  winter,  thirty  bodies  at  a  time 
on  the  tables,  enabling  us  to  repeat  to  seventy  pu- 
pils all  the  operations,  in  following  a  regular  course, 
previously  impossible." 

To  this  series  of  observations,  already  so  decisive, 
we  shall  add  the  intelligence  furnished  us  by  dif- 
ferent anatomists  well  known  to  science. 

Thus  M.  Dubreuil,  the  honourable  dean  of  the 
faculty  of  Medicine  of  Montpelier,  hastened,  in  the 
interest  of  anatomical  studies,  to  make  the  necessary 
trials  to  assure  himself  of  the  efficacy  of  the  process 
in  question.  During  the  spring  of  last  year,  the 
first  body  on  which  he  operated  was  preserved  for 
forty-one  days,  and  the  experiment  was  terminated 
without  any  thing  announcing  putrefaction.  On  a 
second  body  the  result  was  the  same,  although  it 
was  chosen  under  the  most  unfavourable  conditions. 

M.  Bougery,  who,  it  is  known,  is  occupied  in  the 
publication  of  a  great  work  on  anatomy,  declares 
that  this  process  has  very  well  succeeded  in  his 
hands,  and  that  it  has  been  very  useful  to  him.  In 
summer  he  injected  two  subjects  which  were  pre- 
served for  three  weeks ;  in  winter,  he  injected  a 
third,  and  this,  although  kept  in  a  room  heated  to 
15°,  was  preserved  for  seven  weeks. 

M.  Azoux,  who,  at  a  distance  from  Paris,  has 
formed  an  establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  his  ar- 
tificial anatomical  preparations,  employs  the  process 
of  M.  Gannal,  in  order  to  place  before  the  eyes  of 
his  workmen  the  preparations  which  they  are  to  re- 
produce. This  process  has  rendered  him  great  ser- 
vice. 


240  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

MM.  Velpeau  and  Amussat,  who  have  had  occa- 
sion to  put  it  to  the  proof,  have  been  equally  well 
satisfied  with  it. 

Your  commission  was  further  enlightened  by  a 
report  made  to  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  which  in- 
cludes circumstantial  details  of  the  successive  trials 
through  which  M.  Gannal  had  to  pass  before  at- 
taining the  simple  and  easy  method  which  he  em- 
ploys at  present. 

After  the  whole  of  the  intelligence  which  it  has 
collected,  your  commission  feels  itself  authorized  to 
say,  that  the  process  of  M.  Gannal,  as  it  now  exists, 
may  render  the  greatest  service  to  anatomical  stu- 
dies ;  that  it  divests  them,  in  great  part,  of  what  is 
repulsive,  and  deprives  them  almost  entirely,  per- 
haps, of  what  is  insalubrious. 

"We  have  just  seen  that  M.  Bougery,  M.  Amussat, 
and,  in  general,  all  who  consign  themselves  to  con- 
tinued anatomical  researches,  follow  this  process, 
and  have  found  benefit  from  it.  It  is  desirable  that 
it  should  have  been  adopted  in  some  grand  amphi- 
theatre of  anatomy,  and  that  its  use  should  have 
been  subjected  to  the  chances  of  an  extensive  prac- 
tice. It  appears  that  the  additional  expense  which  its 
application  would  occasion,  has  opposed  its  introduc- 
tion, thus  far,  into  such  an  establishment. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  incontestible,  that  the  use  of 
the  injections  of  M.  Gannal  deprives  subjects  of  all 
putrid  odour,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  di- 
minish, if  not  altogether  put  an  end  to  the  serious 
accidents  which  happen  too  often  to  anatomists  who 
are  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  wounded  in  dissectingf. 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     241 

This  is  yet  only  a  presumption;  extended  experience 
can  only  determine  the  fact. 

Your  commission  thinks,  then,  that  it  has  reason 
to  recommend  the  adoption  of  this  process  in  the 
amphitheatres  of  dissection,  notwithstanding  it  may 
occasion  a  slight  increase  of  expense.  How  trifling, 
indeed,  is  this  consideration,  when  it  is  proposed  to 
render  anatomical  studies  more  easy,  and  more 
healthful ;  when  it  is  calculated  to  render  them  more 
fruitful,  since  each  subject  could  be  made  to  serve  a 
greater  number  of  students,  who,  working  without 
disgust  or  repugnance,  would  much  better  preserve 
the  free  exercise  of  their  faculties ! 

All  things  considered,  the  expense,  already  in- 
considerable, and  which  will  become  still  less  here- 
after, is  then  equivalent  to  real  economy,  if,  for  ex- 
ample, the  cost  of  an  anatomical  education  to  a  stu- 
dent be  calculated.  By  the  aid  of  the  new  process, 
fewer  subjects  are  necessary  for  the  same  number 
of  students;  or  rather,  with  the  same  number  of  sub- 
jects, the  education  of  a  much  greater  number  of 
students  may  be  completed. 

Your  commission  has  been  strongly  impressed 
with  these  considerations ;  it  has  thought  that  the 
process  under  consideration  was  sufficiently  proved  ; 
that  it  might,  even  now.  be  practised  habitually  in 
dissecting  amphitheatres  ;  and  that  this  has  not  al- 
ready been  effected,  is  evidently  due  to  administra- 
tive circumstances. 

Consequently,  it  has  the  honour  to  propose  to  you 
to  award  to  M.  Gannal  a  prize  of  $1600. 

The  members  of  tlie  commission  agreed  that   it 

31 


242  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

was  expedient  to  recommend  my  process  to  the  dis- 
secting amphitheatres  :  their  wish  is  in  part  accom- 
plished, since,  by  decision  of  the  central  adminis- 
tration of  hospitals,  the  subjects  are  henceforward 
to  be  subjected,  in  the  capacious  clmmbers  of  Clamart, 
to  one  of  the  injections,  the  compositions  of  which  I 
have  given.  This  decision  will  not  astonish  those  of 
our  readers  who  are  aware  that  M.  Serres  is  charged 
with  the  direction  of  the  anatomical  arrangements 
at  Clamart;  this  gentleman,  whose  works  have  ele- 
vated him  to  so  distinguished  a  rank,  has  been  long 
known  for  the  zeal  and  noble  disinterestedness  with 
which  he  advances  all  useful  discoveries. 

2. — Preservation  of  subjects  of  normal  anatomy,  of 
pathological  anatomy,  and  of  natural  history. 

As  it  is  my  intention  to  publish  hereafter  a  com- 
plete work  on  the  preservation  of  pieces  of  patholo- 
gical anatomy,  and  of  objects  of  natural  history, 
which,  besides  the  details  into  which  I  might  enter, 
would  lead  me  beyond  the  proper  limits  of  this  work, 
I  shall  confine  myself  here  to  some  results  obtained 
during  the  last  three  years,  and  the  composition  of 
the  liquids  derived  therefrom. 

1.  In  1833,  I  took  the  thigh  and  all  the  organs 
contained  in  the  abdominal  cavity  of  an  infant  at 
full  term,  and  treated  them  after  the  manner  to  be 
hereafter  indicated,  and  at  the  present  moment, 
8th  December,  1837, 1  preserve  the  pieces  in  two 
jars.  They  display  no  sensible  alteration,  and  are 
as  fit  for  study  as  when  first  separated  from  the  sub- 
ject. 

2.  In  1835,  Dr.  Beniquet  having  to  pursue  some 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     243 

investigations  on  the  brain,  he  made  use  of  my  li- 
quor in  order  to  preserve  entire  heads,  for  which  he 
had  occasion.  After  his  experiments  were  finished, 
he  presented  to  me  a  head  which  remained,  and 
which  I  preserve  in  my  cabinet.  It  is  impossible  to 
detect  the  slightest  trace  of  change  in  it. 

3.  I  have  preserved  unaltered  for  three  months, 
the  head  of  a  Bar,  (a  species  of  Silurus,)  weighing 
several  pounds ;  this  head  has  served  for  dissection. 

4.  I  have  preserved  leeches  and  other  worms  for 
several  years,  without  perceiving  that  they  had  lost 
any  of  the  characters  necessary  for  the  naturalist  to 
know. 

5.  The  same  observation  applies  to  the  different 
organs  of  birds  and  mammalia  :  the  heads  of  phea- 
sants plunged,  feathers  and  all,  into  the  preserva- 
tive liquor,  after  fifteen  days  of  maceration,  present 
the  red  colour  around  the  eye  of  as  lively  a  shade 
as  at  the  moment  of  immersion. 

I  might  multiply  these  examples,  and  produce 
several  hundred  trials  equally  conclusive,  made  du- 
ring the  course  of  my  experiments  ;  but  as  it  could 
not  result  in  any  advantage  to  the  reader,  I  forbear. 
Besides,  the  use  that  Captain  Darville  has  made  of 
my  liquor  during  his  scientific  voyage,  and  the  thou- 
sand proofs  to  which  it  is  every  day  subjected  on 
the  part  of  men,  whom  the  study  of  natural  history 
induces  to  have  recourse  to  it,  will  be  the  most 
faithful  and  sure  confirmation. 

In  fine,  I  shall  always  be  most  happy  to  receive 
the  observations,  remarks,  and  criticisms  of  those, 
who,  with  an  interest  for  science,  may  have  occa- 
sion to  point  out  to  me  any  circumstances  calculated 


244  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR    THE 

to  modify  the  applications.  Many,  without  doubt, 
may  have  escaped  me,  and  as  I  desire,  above  all 
things,  to  bring  my  processes  to  the  highest  degree 
of  perfection,  I  shall  be  thankful  for  any  aid  that 
may  contribute  to  this  end.  The  following  is  the 
composition  of  the  liquids^  which  I  employ  for  pre- 
serving the  different  pieces  of  normal  anatomy,  pa- 
thological anatomy,  and  natural  history. 

1.  A  solution  of  the  simple  sulphate  of  alumine, 
at  six  degrees;  that  is  to  say,  the  solution  of  a  killo- 
gram  of  this  salt  in  six  quarts  of  water. 

2.  A  solution  of  simple  sulphate  with  water  satu- 
rated with  arsenious  acid  : — five  hundred  scruples 
of  arsenic  to  forty  quarts  of  water ; — six  quarts  of 
this  solution  to  one  killogram  of  the  simple  sul- 
phate. 

3.  Of  the  acetate  of  alumine  at  five  degrees,  satu- 
rated with  arsenious  acid. 

Usage. — For  fifteen  days  I  cause  the  pieces  to 
disgorge  in  the  first  liquid ;  at  the  end  of  this  pe- 
riod they  are  withdrawn  and  placed  in  the  bath  of 
a  second  liquid,  where  they  may  remain  for  from 
three  to  five  months ;  finally,  they  are  withdrawn 
and  placed  in  a  third  liquid.  It  is  thus  that  I  have 
preserved  preparations  for  three  or  four  years,  which 
the  public  is  welcome  to  come  and  see. 

It  would  be  useless  to  recur  here  to  dried  prepa- 
rations, having  given  an  example  of  them  in  the  se- 
venth chapter  ;  nevertheless,  as  I  then  only  indicated 

1  These  liquids,  which  may  be  employed  for  the  limited  preservation 
of  fish  destined  to  dissection,  will  not  answer  for  their  indefinite  preser- 
vation, but  I  shall  have  occasion,  in  my  work  on  the  preservation  of  pa- 
thological anatomy,  to  indicate  another  process. 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     245 

the  injection  of  acetate  of  alumine,  without  making 
any  observation,  one  of  the  results  wliich  I  have  at- 
tained by  the  simple  sulphate,  reported  now,  will 
be  a  useful  confirmation  of  the  process  which  I 
have  (fiven  before.  Distinguished  men  have  ex- 
amined  the  viscera  and  vessels  of  a  subject  injected 
for  six  months,  and  we  shall  see  how  satisfactory 
was  the  state  of  the  organs  after  so  long  a  period. 

M.  Professor  Dumas,  treating  of  the  acetate  of 
alumine  in  the  lectures  which  he  gives  in  the  Poly- 
technic School,  was  led  to  refer  to  the  application 
which  I  had  successfully  made  of  this  salt,  for  the 
preservation  of  bodies.  He  requested  me  to  lend  him 
some  preparations  to  show  to  the  students  of  the 
school.  I  lost  no  time  in  sending  him  several  spe- 
cimens ;  I  added  the  first  body  which  I  had  injected 
with  the  solution  of  the  simple  sulphate  at  thirty 
degrees ;  it  was  the  corpse  of  a  foetus  that  had  only 
lived  fifteen  days.  Injected  six  months  ago,  and 
abandoned  to  the  air  of  my  laboratory,  this  body 
had  lost  about  one-half  of  its  water  of  composition  ; 
the  feet,  the  hands,  the  ears,  were  dried  ; — the  face 
was  covered  with  bjjssiis,'  but  no  trace  of  decompo- 
sition evinced  an  approaching  dissolution  of  the  or- 
gans. 

On  the  next  lecture,  Cazalis  asked  me  in  what 
state  the  vessels  ought  to  be  found  in  this  stage  of 
the  preservation.     The  subject,  I   remarked,  is  at 

1  These  productions  on  the  surface  of  dried  preparations,  not  covered 
with  varnish,  do  not  produce,  it  is  true,  putrid  decomposition,  but  they 
change,  and  tend  to  destroy  them.  I  have  experienced  all  the  inconve- 
nienc^e  of  this  fact  in  embalming ;  after  numerous  trials  I  have  disco- 
vered a  method  of  preventing  it. 


246  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

your  disposal,  and  you  can  satisfy  yourself.  He 
then  opened  the  chest,  placed  the  syphon  in  the 
aorta,  and  a  fatty  injection  of  about  three  hundred 
scruples  was  forced  into  the  arterial  system. 

The  injection  having  cooled,  the  subject  was 
opened ;  the  intestines  were  in  a  remarkable  state 
of  preservation,  and  the  injection  had  penetrated 
them,  as  well  as  the  brain,  which  was  found  in  a 
healthy  state.  Finally,  the  brachial  artery,  followed 
in  its  divisions  and  subdivisions  to  the  palm  of  the 
hand,  was  seen  to  be  injected.  Since  this  period,  I 
often  show  this  subject  to  persons  who  visit  my  la- 
boratory ;  it  is  immersed  in  the  preservative  liquor, 
and  I  can  submit  it  to  the  examination  of  anatomists, 
for  whom  facts  only  are  important.  Observations 
of  this  nature  prove  that  I  have  given  to  anatomists 
the  means  of  preservation  which  respond  loudly 
to  all  the  wants  of  the  science  ;  and  it  ought  further 
to  be  remarked,  that  my  experiments  have  been 
conducted  under  the  most  unfavourable  circum- 
stances. Indeed,  for  the  trial  of  all  the  substances 
which  I  supposed  possessed  of  preservative  proper- 
ties, I  have  chosen,  as  in  the  preceding  case,  foe- 
tuses, as  subjects  the  most  disposed  to  fall  into  pu- 
trefaction, as  in  them  animal  matter  is  not  com- 
pletely formed,  and  they  include  a  considerable 
quantity  of  water  of  composition,  much  geline,  and 
very  little  muscular  flesh.  This  method  of  proceed- 
ing has  enabled  me  to  dispense  with  numerous  at- 
tempts, and  to  avoid  deception.  The  aspect  of  foe- 
tuses, and  the  intimate  structure  of  their  tissues 
vary  little  from  each  other  ;  but  the  diff'erence,  very 
trifling  for  these  subjects,  is  immense  in  men  of  ad- 
vanced  age  ;  the  temperament,   and  idiosyncrasy, 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.    247 

which  display  themselves  later,  establish  a  thousand 
degrees,  a  thousand  shades  in  the  tendency  to  de- 
composition, and  the  subject  which  cedes  most  ra- 
pidly to  dissolving  causes,  is  scarcely  on  a  par  with 
new-born  infants.  This  opinion,  which  can  be  es- 
tablished by  facts,  if  necessary,  convinces  me,  inde- 
pendently of  my  experiments,  that  all  means  proper 
for  the  preservation  of  infants,  may,  a  priori,  be 
supposed  an  excellent  process  for  the  preservation 
of  all  animal  bodies. 

I  possess  in  my  cabinet  a  dozen  of  foetuses,  in- 
jected at  different  periods  with  the  acetate  of  alu- 
mine,  or  the  simple  sulphate,  some  preserved  in  the 
liquid,  others  abandoned  to  the  air  :  on  these  pieces 
may  be  perceived  the  different  phases,  the  various 
transformations  produced  by  time  and  chemical 
agents  on  animal  matters.  Some  of  these  subjects, 
prepared  for  more  than  a  year,  are  in  as  favourable 
a  state  for  anatomical  study  as  on  the  day  of  their 
death;  others,  submitted  to  the  action  of  the  air, 
have  become  dried,  and  offer  the  appearance  of  the 
mummy  of  the  sands. 

3. — Embalming. 

I  have  presented  a  history  of  embalming  as  com- 
plete as  the  nature  of  the  case  would  admit ;  as  a 
historian,  I  have  investigated  those  sources  most 
worthy  of  credit ;  I  have  collected  all  the  documents 
of  interest,  and  have  used  them  as  occasion  required  ; 
observations  and  criticisms  have  lent  their  aid,  either 
to  enlighten  or  correct  information,  and  admitted 
opinions  :  I  have,  above  all,  endeavoured  to  confine 


248       GENERAL  PROCESSES  FOR  THE 

myself  to  scientific  data.  From  the  mummy  of  the 
sands  to  that  obtained  from  the  deuto-chloride  of 
mercury,  these  two  extreme  points  of  my  endea- 
vours, this  was  the  idea  which  prevailed,  and  di- 
rected the  exposition  of  my  subject.  I  shall  not  de- 
part from  this  method  in  order  to  make  known  my 
work ;  I  shall  abstain  from  all  conjecture  on  the  du- 
ration of  bodies  embalmed  by  my  process;  here, 
too,  I  confine  myself  to  facts,  and  to  the  deductions 
which  are  naturally  derived  from  them. 

I  refer  to  the  end  of  the  sixth  chapter  for  the  ad- 
vantages resulting  from  my  processes  compared 
with  all  others,  and  I  resume  the  subject  where  I 
left  it  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  acetate  of  alumine,  and  the  simple  sulphate, 
ought  to  be  chosen  in  preference  to  all  other  dried 
substances  for  the  preservation  of  bodies  ;  these  two 
salts  can  render  to  anatomists  all  desirable  services; 
but  the  study  of  their  action  ought  to  be  extended 
further  for  the  purposes  of  the  embalmer. 

What  happens,  then,  w^hen  a  subject  is  injected 
with  one  of  these  two  salts  ?  They  remain  exposed 
to  the  thermometric  and  liygrometric  variations  of 
the  air,  and  should  undergo  one  of  the  following 
transformations  ;  or  rather,  submitted  to  the  action 
of  a  dry  and  free  air,  they  rapidly  dry ;  or  preserved 
in  a  close  and  humid  place,  they  become  emaciated, 
blackened,  and  covered  with  mouldiness,  without, 
however,  experiencing  putrid  fermentation  ;  they 
decompose  like  skin  or  tanned  leather  enclosed  in  a 
humid  place,  or  beneath  the  earth.  These  transfor- 
mations experienced  by  bodies  thus  prepared,  were 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     249 

an   obstacle    to  the  application    of  my   process  to 
embalming. 

There  remained  for  me,  then,  an  ulterior  series  of 
observations  in  order  to  prevent  these  unfavourable 
results. 

It  was  necessanj  to  discover  a  method  of  preserv- 
ing bodies  always  fresh,  with  the  appearance  of 
sleep,  in  the  state  in  which  theij  exist  immediatehj 
after  death.  It  was  necessary  that  the  preserva- 
tion should  he  indefinitely  prolonged ;  that  is  to 
say,  that  the  embalming  he  such  a  one  that  it  would 
allow  a  dead  body  to  be  preserved  in  all  its  integ- 
rity, without  mutilation,  without  incisions,  and  fit 
for  dissection  at  ivill  at  all  possible  epochs. 

Have  I  fulfilled  these  conditions  ?  Let  the  facts 
answer. 

First  observation. — In  the  month  of  February, 
1836,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Petigard,  I  embalmed 
the  body  of  the  son  of  M.  Dupre,  architect,  living  in 
Cerisarie  street,  No.  13, 

This  child,  aged  about  twelve  years,  was  interred 
in  the  cemetery  of  Pere  la  Chaise.  During  the  con- 
struction of  the  monument,  which  the  father  caused 
to  be  erected  to  him,  some  of  his  friends  excited 
doubts  as  to  the  efficacy  of  my  method  of  preserva- 
tion. Wounded  in  his  affections,  M.  Dupre  con- 
ceived suspicions  which  he  communicated  to  Dr. 
Petigard,  expressing  the  desire  for  the  exhumation 
of  the  body.  He  advised  me  of  this,  but  numerous 
occupations  prevented  me  giving  it  immediate  at- 
tention ;  he  attributed  my  delay  to  hesitation,  to  the 
fear  I  had  of  seeing  my  promises  made  to  the  rela- 

32 


250  GENERAL    PROCESSES    FOR   THE 

tives  contradicted,  and,  as  he  has  since  avowed,  ex- 
pressed himself  without  reserve  on  my  account. 

Finally,  the  opening  of  the  coffin  was  made  in 
the  month  of  July,  1837  ;  when  the  unfortunate 
father,  feeling  revive  all  his  grief  at  the  sight  of  his 
son,  whom  he  found  exactly  in  the  state  in  which  he 
was  at  the  moment  of  inhumation,  regretting,  be- 
sides, his  suspicions  of  me,  embraced  me  with  effu- 
sion, and  gave  me  every  proof  of  his  lively  grati- 
tude. 

"  Your  hesitation,"  he  remarked,  "made  me  fear  that 
I  had  been  deceived,  under  which  persuasion  I  have 
undoubtedly  prejudiced  several  persons  against  you, 
but  I  will  repair  the  fault  in  telling  the  truth."  Here 
is  one  fact  which  may  appear  of  some  value,  and 
that  which  follows  is  none  the  less  conclusive. 

Second  observation. — Dr.  Oudet,  surgeon  dentist, 
died  at  Paris,  Dauphine  street,  was  embalmed  sixth 
March,  1837,  after  my  process;  his  body  was  de- 
posited in  a  coffin  of  oak,  without  a  lining  of  lead, 
and  placed,  thus  enclosed,  in  a  clayey,  humid  soil. 
Three  months  after,  the  exhumation  was  made,  in 
presence  of  M.  Prunier,  commissary  of  police  for 
the  quarter  of  the  observatory,  and  of  Dr.  Petit. 
The  body  was  found  in  such  a  perfect  state  of  pre- 
servation, that  it  astonished  the  numerous  persons 
present  at  the  exhumation ;  all  admitting  that  the 
aspect  of  the  defunct  was  exactly  that  of  a  man 
asleep :  a  "  proces-verbal"  was  drawn  up  on  the 
spot,  to  prove  the  state  of  the  body.  The  following 
is  a  copy  of  it : 

"  I,  tlie  undersigned,  Doctor  of  Medicine  of  the 
faculty  of  Paris,  certify,  that  on  the  sixth  of  March, 


PRESERVATION  OF  OBJECTS  OF  ANATOMY,  &C.     251 

1837,  M.  Gannal  embalmed,  by  his  process,  the 
body  of  Oudet,  senior,  Doctor  in  Medicine,  who 
lived  No.  24  Dauphine  street.  This  operation  was 
performed  in  my  presence,  no  other  opening  being 
necessary  than  that  in  the  carotid  artery,  and  was 
finished  in  less  than  half  an  hour. 

"  On  the  twenty-eighth  of  May  following,  the  ex- 
humation of  the  body  was  made  in  my  presence, 
that  of  M.  Prunier,  commissary  of  police,  the  per- 
sons attached  to  the  cemetery,  and  some  spectators. 
The  body,  which  had  remained  three  months  in  the 
earth,  and  in  a  coffin  not  lined  with  lead,  was*  in 
such  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  that  all  present 
declared  that  it  resembled  a  man  asleep. 

Signed,  H.  Petit." 

It  is,  perhaps,  unnecessary  to  refer  here  to  the 
embalming  which  I  made  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Hus- 
son.  I  had  to  preserve  the  body  of  the  nephew  of 
General  Guilleminot,  who  died  at  the  hotel  de 
Bade,  Helder  street.  The  mother  requested  that  her 
son  should  be  dressed  in  his  usual  manner,  and 
placed  on  a  bed  of  repose  as  if  asleep.  He  remained 
fifteen  days  in  this  position  before  being  enclosed  in 
a  coffin,  to  be  transported  to  the  family  sepulchre. 
I  abstain  from  mentioning  many  instances  of  exhu- 
mation made  at  my  own  request,  because  they  need 
the  authenticity  of  character  necessary  to  facts,  from 
which  are  to  be  drawn  scientific  results.  Besides, 
it  will  always  be  easy,  when  any  scientific  body  or 
the  authorities  desire  to  assure  themselves  of  the  ef- 
ficacy of  the  means  which  I  employ,  to  obtain  an 


252  GENERAL     PROCESSES,    &C. 

exhumation  and  prove  the  state  of  the  subjects  thus 
prepared. 

I  preserve  in  my  cabinet  the  body  of  an  infant  of 
ten  years,  embalmed  for  more  than  eight  months ; 
the  countenance  of  this  subject,  which  remains  un- 
covered, has  not  experienced  any  alteration ;  his 
open  eyes*  give  his  physiognomy  the  expression  of 
astonishment  often  observed  on  first  awakening. 

If  such  results  can  offer  any  consolation  to  fami- 
lies who  lament  a  painful  loss,  I  have  received  my 
reward. 

♦  The  eyes  have  been  replaced  by  artificial  ones.— TV, 


APPENDIX 


We  propose  to  make  a  few  general  observations  on  the 
process  of  M.  Gannal,  and  add  some  remarks  on  anatomical 
preparations,  in  order  to  make  the  present  work  more  com- 
plete. 

The  perusal  of  this  volume  must  convince  any  one  that 
we  are  indebted  to  M.  Gannal  for  a  real  improvement  in 
the  progress  of  anatomical  science.  But,  as  is  generally  the 
case  with  authors  who  urge  a  research  into  any  particular 
department  of  science  with  equal  enthusiasm,  M.  Gannal 
has,  perhaps,  overrated  the  extent  and  importance  of  his 
discovery.  The  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Academy 
of  Sciences,  and  the  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine,  have  sa- 
tisfactorily demonstrated  the  great  utility  and  novelty  of  M. 
G.'s  process,  in  preserving  bodies  for  dissection  without  ma- 
terially altering  the  organic  tissues,  or  offering  any  injury  to 
the  instruments  of  the  dissector.  And  the  museum  of  the 
author  contains  numerous  specimens,  to  show  that  subjects 
injected  by  his  process  and  dried,  are  capable  of  resisting 
destruction  for  ages ;  but  we  did  not  observe  any  specimens 
during  our  examination  of  them,  which  retained  so  close  a 
resemblance  to  living  nature,  as  his  accounts  would  lead  us 
to  believe,  with  the  exception  of  those  which  had  been  re- 
cently injected,  and  previous  to  the  process  of  desiccation  ; 
a  process  which  always  results  unless  the  object  is  enveloped 
by  a  preservative  liquor,  and  thus  adding  considerably  to 
the  labour  and  expense.  Whilst  the  process  of  desiccation 
produces  such  contraction  and  distortion  in  the  subject,  as 
to  render  the  new  method  of  embalming  ever  inapplicable 
as  a  general  means  of  accurately  preserving  birds  and  quad- 


254  APPENDIX. 

rupeds  as  objects  of  zoological  collections.  But  it  might  be 
made  an  economical  and  expeditious  method  of  preparing 
objects  of  natural  history  during  long  voyages,  as  such  ob- 
jects could  be  subsequently  moistened  and  subjected  to  dis- 
section. But  desiccation  does  not  immediately  follow  pre- 
servation by  this  process  ;  as  was  satisfactorily  exemplified 
in  the  person  of  the  late  Archbishop  Quelin,  who  died  dur- 
ing our  residence  in  Paris,  and  who  was  thus  embalmed  at 
his  own  dying  request,  and  whose  body  retained  its  natural 
appearance  after  several  weeks  exposure  to  public  view  in 
the  church  of  Notre  Dame. 

A  more  useful  application  of  the  process  has  also  been 
made  by  the  police  of  Paris,  in  preserving  bodies  for  many 
weeks  in  the  morgue,  where  suspicions  of  murder  exacted 
an  unusual  retention  of  the  body. 

The  specimens  of  pathological  anatomy,  preserved  in  the 
same  liquid  of  injection,  were  not  exempt  from  the  usual 
inconvenience  attached  to  similar  preparations  in  a  solution 
of  muriate  of  soda  and  other  salts,  being  equally  liable  to 
incrustations,  requiring  a  change  or  renewal  of  the  solu- 
tion. 

In  the  preservation  of  birds  by  this  process  it  was  found 
sufficient  to  inject  the  body  by  the  trachea,  subsequently 
suspending  the  animal  by  the  feet  in  order  to  drain  it  of  the 
superabundant  fluid,  and  then  giving  it  a  fixed  position  by 
means  of  wires ;  such  preparations  retain  their  flexibility 
and  natural  appearance  for  some  weeks,  or  until  desicca- 
tion commences. 

The  powerful  preservative  properties  of  aluminous  salts 
have  been  long  known,  and  were  not  unfrequently  resorted 
to  by  the  ancients.  Some  remarkable  instances  of  preserva- 
tion by  such  a  medium  have  accidentally  occurred  in  our 
own  country,  among  which  the  following  may  be  here  no- 
ticed. That  distinguished  officer  of  the  American  revolu- 
tion, General  Wayne,  died  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  at  Erie, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  buried  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lake  ; 
the  body  was  not  long  since  disinterred  and  removed  by 


APPENDIX.  255 

his  son,  who  was  astonished  to  find  it  in  so  perfect  a  state 
of  preservation — and  on  examination  it  was  discovered  to 
have  been  deposited  in  an  argillaceous  soil  strongly  impreg- 
nated with  a  solution  of  alum. 

Another  interesting  instance  occurred  many  years  since 
in  the  State  of  Maine,  where  the  body  of  a  person,  missing 
for  several  months,  was  discovered  in  a  clay  pit,  into  which 
it  had  fallen,  face  downwards,  enveloped  in  moist  clay;  the 
features  were  recognisable,  although  the  parts  of  the  body 
exposed  to  the  air  had  long  decayed  to  a  skeleton. 

The  interesting  and  important  subject  of  embalming,  and 
of  preserving  and  preparing  anatomical  objects,  though 
much  improved  of  late,  is  by  no  means  exhausted.  It  has 
long  been  our  desire  to  turn  our  attention  in  a  special  man- 
ner to  such  researches,  and  to  have  instituted  numerous  ex- 
periments, but  imperative  duties,  and  unexpected  events, 
have  interfered  with  such  views  for  the  present — we  are 
not  without  a  hope,  however,  that  some  one  of  our  country- 
men, more  fortunately  situated,  will  push  his  discoveries  in 
a  direction  which  affords  so  admirable  a  field  for  distinc- 
tion. 

The  investigator  might  even  be  so  fortunate  as  to  dis- 
cover the  lost  secret  of  the  Florentine  Physician,  Segato^ 
for  petrifying  animal  substances !  The  problem  is  by  no 
means  an  unphilosophical  one,  nor  yet  a  chemical  ano- 
maly— it  is  only  perfectly  to  saturate,  by  injection  or  other- 
wise, animal  substance  with  the  silicate  of  potash,  or  liquor 
of  flints, — ( Verre  Soluble,  of  Fuchs,)  and  subsequently  to  im- 
merse it  in  a  weak  acid  solution: — the"methodus  oper- 
andi," remains  to  be  discovered.  (Consult  Dumas,  Traits 
de  Chimie,  Vol.  2.  p.  577,  for  an  interesting  chapter  on 
"Verre  Soluble.") 

-  Bodies  of  men,  horses,  &c.,  have  been  preserved  for  cen- 
turies in  the  bogs  of  Scotland  and  Ireland ;  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  these  must  have  been  immersed  when  the  tem- 
perature was  low,  as  we  have  always  failed  in  attempting 
to  preserve  bodies  in  a  saturated  solution  of  gall  nuts,  dm-- 


256  APPENDIX. 

ing  warm  weather  but  an  injection  of  the  vessels  with  the 
tincture  of  galls  has  proved  more  successful. 

We  have  already  demonstrated  by  experiment  that  Tran- 
chini's  arsenical  solution  is  inadequate  as  a  means  of  em- 
balming, (vide  Note,  p.  211  of  this  volume.) 

The  mercurial  corrosive  sublimate,  as  a  means  of  preser- 
ving from  corruption,  in  addition  to  the  palpable  objections 
to  its  use  designated  by  our  author,  exacts  much  time,  la- 
bour, and  expense,  and  not  imfrequently  fails  altogether, 
whether  applied  to  animal  or  vegetable  substances. 

The  sulphate  of  copper,  has  more  recently  been  proposed 
as  a  preservative  of  vegetable  matter,  especially  as  appli- 
cable to  the  blocks  for  paving  streets ;  its  properties  as  a 
preservative  of  animal  matters  have  long  been  recognised. 
We  have  read  of  human  bodies  found  in  some  parts  of  Ger- 
many, preserved  entire  for  many  years,  by  being  deposited 
in  a  soil  strongly  impregnated  with  this  salt. 

About  the  close  of  the  year  1839,  we  read  in  the  Medi- 
cal Gazette,  an  account  of  some  experiments  performed  by 
Drs.  Babington  and  Rees,  with  the  view  of  preserving  hu- 
man bodies,  for  the  purposes  of  dissection.  After  numerous 
unsuccessful  trials  with  various  antiseptic  substances,  they 
succeeded  to  their  entire  satisfaction  by  simply  injecting  the 
arteries  of  an  adult  with  one  gallon  of  pyroxilic  spirits ;  of 
which  substance,  (which  must  not  be  confounded  withpyro- 
ligneous  acid,  or  pyro-acetic  spirits,)  a  full  account  may  be 
found  in  the  "Annals  of  Philosophy,"  N.  S.  VIII,  69.  Ac- 
cording to  the  authors, the  advantage  of  employing  Pyroxi- 
lic Spirits  are — 1.  Its  extreme  fluidity.  2.  Its  freedom  from 
colour.  3.  Its  cheapness,  being  only  one  half  the  price  of 
alcohol.  4.  Its  innoccuous  nature,  and  its  freedom  from 
any  corrosive  action  on  dissecting  instruments. 

In  the  London  Medical  Gazette,  for  December,  1839, 
there  is  a  memoir  of  Dr.  Thomas  Marshall,  on  the  same 
subject,  who  thinks  he  has  discovered  a  much  cheaper  and 
more  efi'ectual  method — which  consists  in  puncturing  the 
surface  of  the  body  very  generally  with  needles  or  scissors. 


APPENDIX.  -SS? 

&c.,  and  brushing  over  the  body  with  acetic  acid,  specitic 
,  gravity  1,04S,  which  must  be  brushed  into  it  slowly  and  re- 
peatedly, the  same  acid  slightly  diluted  with  water,  to  be 
introduced  into  the  great  cavities.  This  process,  the  author 
asserts,  has  not  only  preserved  bodies  perfectly  sweet  for 
months;  but  is  capable  of  restoring  the  natural  colour  to 
parts  already  gangrenous. 

To  use  the  author's  own  words,  "two  days'  application  in 
this  way,  will  beautify  any  subject."  The  face  of  a  corpse 
thus  punctured,  and  supplied  with  compresses  moistened 
with  this  acid,  would  be  preserved,  or  even  restored  to  its 
natural  appearance,  when  discoloured  by  incipient  putrefac- 
tion. John  Hiaiter  and  other  contemporaneous  surgeons 
were  in  the  habit  of  using  diluted  nitric  acid  for  this  pur- 
pose, but  we  have  frequently  seen  this  application  fail,  in 
our  climate,  when  puncturation  was  omitted. 

Most  beautiful  specimens  of  natural  skeletons  may  be 
obtained  by  employing  tadpoles  ;  the  animal  must  be  di- 
vested of  its  skin,  and  the  bones  roughly  cleaned  of  their 
flesh,  and  then  suspended  in  water,  exposed  to  the  depre- 
dations of  the  tadpoles,  who  delicately  remove,  atom  by 
atom,  the  softened  flesh  still  adhering  to  the  skeleton,  by 
means  of  their  suction  mouths,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours, 
during  warm  weather ;  when  the  preparation  is  to  be  placed 
in  position  and  dried.  The  aid  of  the  ant  has  also  been 
successfully  invoked  for  a  similar  purpose.  A  small  quad- 
ruped prepared  as  above,  is  placed  in  a  box,  and  deposited 
in  the  vicinity  of  an  ant's  nest;  these  industrious  operatives 
rapidly  remove  the  flesh  from  the  bones. 

As  approaching  the  nearest  to  natural  objects,  we  can  se- 
curely reconamend  the  accm'ate  anatomical  preparations  in 
Carton,  of  Dr.  Azoux,  of  Paris:  the  annual  course  of  po- 
pular anatomy  which  he  delivers,  and  which  we  have  had 
the  satisfaction  of  attending,  are  admirably  and  accurately 
illustrated  by  this  means. 

These  preparations  consist  not  only  of  every  part  of  the 
human  body,  but  of  entire  subjects,  both  male  and  female,  in- 

33 


258  APPENDIX. 

eluding  the  gravid  uterus.  The  only  objection  that  can  be 
urged  against  them,  is  the  high  price,  say  six  hundred  dollars 
for  the  entire  adult  subject. 

p]]qually  valuable  is  the  more  recent  invention  of  another 
Parisian  artist,  of  a  material  which  he  denominates  "Carton 
pierreuse,"  which  appears  to  be  a  composition  of  "papier 
mache"  and  ground  plaster  of  Paris,  with  which  he  executes 
anatomical  models  of  great  beauty  and  accuracy,  including 
innumerable  pieces  of  morbid  anatomy,  coloured  to  nature. 
Either  of  the  above  preparations  are  vastly  superior  to  those 
in  wax  -,  they  are  more  durable  and  more  natural. 

The  study  of  minute  anatomy  has  been  yet  further  essen- 
tially aided,  by  the  representations  of  the  nerves,  arteries, 
and  veins  of  the  head  and  face,  by  means  of  wires  en- 
veloped in  wax,  coloured  after  nature  ;  these  constitute  very, 
accurate  and  handsome  preparations,  and  are  the  ornament 
of  anatomical  museums,  as  manufactured  by  M.  Guy,  ad- 
joining the  School  of  Medicine  in  Paris. 

Preparations  of  the  nerves  and  blood  vessels  of  the  entire 
subject,  distinct  from  the  body,  are  made  in  a  similar  man- 
ner; fine  specimens  of  which  are  contained  in  the  Museum 
of  Comparative  Anatomy  in  the  Garden  of  Plants.  The  end- 
less variety  and  perfection  of  the  preparations,  models,  &c., 
as  a  means  of  prosecuting  anatomical  studies  at  the  present 
time,  are  strongly  contrasted  with  those  at  the  command  of 
the  student  in  the  days  of  Harvey ;  when  the  vessels  and 
nerves  were  imperfectly  displayed  with  great  labour  and 
expense  by  the  tedious  process  of  dissecting  them  from  the 
body  and  drying  them  on  a  board.  Valuable  specimens  of 
these  kinds  of  preparations  from  the  cabinet  of  Harvey,  are 
still  scrupulously  preserved  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Royal  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  of  London. 

It  will  only  be  necessary  to  add  here,  a  few  formulae  for 
the  various  kinds  of  injections  used  in  the  preparations  of 
the  blood  vessels  by  the  American  and  English  anatomists, 
which  will  be  observed  to  differ  considerably  from  those 
used  on  the  Continent,  by  reference  to  chapter  seventh  of 


APPENDIX.  259 

this  volume,  where  will  also  he  found  fonnulasfor  the  com- 
position of  varnishes  :  as  regards  the  various  methods  of  ma- 
nipulation requisite  for  the  preparation  of  each  particular 
part  of  the  body,  these  will  be  best  obtained  by  the  student's 
personal  application  to  the  anatomical  instructor  or  assis- 
tant connected  with  medical  schools  and  teachers  of  prac- 
tical anatomy. 

We  have  found,  by  experience,  that  the  great  secret  of 
success  in  anatomical  injections,  consists  in  first  heating  the 
part,  or  subject,  thoroughly  in  hot  water,  the  temperature  of 
which,  for  an  entire  subject  must  be  continued  for  ten  or 
twelve  hours,  or  until  the  deepest  parts  are  equally  heated; 
secondly,  to  take  the  precaution  to  reduce  the  colouring 
matters  to  an  impalpable  powder,  and  use  the  injection  at 
as  high  a  temperature  as  possible  without  injury  to  the 
tissues. 

Formulao  for  coarse  Injections. 

Red. — Yellow  bees-wax,  16  3. 

White  resin,  9  i- 

Turpentine  varnish,  6  g. 

Vermilion,  or  carmine,  3  3. 

Yelloic.—The  same  materials,  substituting  for  the 

red  colouring  matter.  King's  yellow,  2l   3. 

Black. — Substituting  lamp-black,  1   §• 

Green. — Substituting  crystallized  verdigris,  4^  3. 

Best  flake  v/hite,  I5   B- 

Gamboge,  1   o- 

White. — Substituting  fine  white  bees-wax,  and 

best  flake  white,  Si   5. 

Pale  blue. — The  same,  substituting  fine  blue  smalt,  2\  3. 
Dark  blue. — Substituting  blue  verditer,  lOd  3. 

First  liquify  the  wax,  resin,  and  turpentine  varnish,  over 
a  slow  fire,  in  an  earthen  pot,  then  add  the  colouring  mat- 
ter, previously  mixing  it  in  another  pot,  with  a  very  small 
quantity  of  the  liquified  composition,  and   stirrins  it  well 


260  APPENDIX. 

wiih  a  wooden  pestle,  so  that  the  colouring  ingredients  may 
be  intimately  and  smoothly  blended;  then  add,  by  degrees, 
the  whole  of  the  ingredients,  and  when  they  have  acquired 
their  due  heat,  by  being  placed  again  over  the  fire,  the  in- 
jection will  be  ready  for  immediate  use.  A  quantity  of  the 
ingredients  of  these  injections  may  be  kept  prepared  with- 
out the  colouring  matters,  wliich  may  be  added  in  their  pro- 
per proportions,  pro  re  nata.  The  ingredients  become  brittle 
by  frequent  melting,  and  turpentine  varnish  must  be  occa- 
sionally added.  The  same  rules  apply  to  the  mixture  of  the 
following 

Formulae  for  fine  Injections. 

Red. — Brown  spirit  varnish,  white  spirit  varnish,  a.a. 

Turpentine  varnish,"* 

Vermilion, 
Yellow. — The  same,  substituting  King's  yellow. 
White. — Substituting  best  flake  white, 
Light  blue. — Substituting  fine  blue  smalt, 

Best  flake  white. 
Dark  blue. — Substituting  blue  verditer, 
Black. — Lamp-black, 

Formulse  for  Minute  Injections. 

The  size  which  constitutes  the  principal  part  of  these 
formulae,  is  made  in  the  following  manner: 

Take  the  finest  and  most  transparent  glue,  one  pound, 
break  it  into  pieces  about  the  size  of  a  nutmeg ;  put  it  into 
an  earthen  pot,  and  pour  on  it  three  pints  of  cold  water,  let 
it  stand  twenty-four  hours,  stirring  occasionally  with  a  stick; 
then  set  it  over  a  slow  fire  for  half  an  hour,  or  until  the  glue 
is  perfectly  dissolved ;  skim  ofl"  the  froth  from  the  surface 
and  strain  it  through  flannel ;  then  add  the  colouring  in- 
gredients. 

*  The  varnishes  go  by  measure. 


4  5- 

1  S- 

1  §. 

ni. 

2  1. 

n  §. 

U5- 

4  1. 

h  §. 

APPENDIX.  261 

Red. — Size,  one  pint — Vermilion,  3^  5. 

Yelloitf.  "  "  King's  yellow,  2^  g. 

TV/lite.    "  "  Best  flake  white,  3i  5. 

Blue.      "  <•'  Fine  blue  smalt,  6  3. 

Green.    "  "  Crystallized  verdigris,  2  §. 

'•  "  Best  flake  white,  gamboge,  a.fl'.     8  9. 

Black.     "  "  Lamp-black,  1  5. 

Cold  Injections. 

Whilst  pursuing  practical  anatomy  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1814,  under  the  direction  of  Pro- 
fessor Wistar,  I  became  acquainted  with  a  material  for 
many  years  known  in  that  institution  under  the  denomina- 
tion of  "  Spalding's  Cold  Injection''*  used  for  the  piu-pose 
of  filling  the  bloodvessels,  without  the  preparatory  measm'e 
of  heating  the  subject  or  the  injection  ingredients — its  use 
exacted  great  care  on  the  part  of  the  manipulator,  and  fre- 
quently failed ;  although,  when  successful,  it  siu-passed  all 
other  coarse  injections  in  minuteness.  It  was  composed  by 
grinding  white  lead  and  red  lead,  of  each  4  5,  in  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  boiled  linseed  oil  to  form  a  thick  paste, 
adding,  just  previously  to  injecting,  turpentine  varnish  8  5. 

Dr.  Parsons  gives  the  following  formulas  for  cold  injec- 
tions.    ( Vide  Parson's  Anatomical  Preparations,  p.  2.) 

"  Cold  coarse  Injections. — This  kind  consists  of  colour- 
ing matter  ground  in  boiled  linseed  oil  upon  a  painter's 
marble,  and  made  of  the  consistence  of  white  lead,  ground 
in  oil.  After  being  finely  levigated,  a  little  lime  water,  in 
proportion  of  two  table  spoonsful  to  a  pint,  is  to  be  incorpo- 
rated by  stirring.  At  the  moment  of  filling  the  syringe  with 
the  injection,  there  should  be  added  to  it  about  one-third  of 
its  measure  of  Venice  turpentine,  which  should  be  stirred 
quickly,  and  used  immediately,  as  it  very  soon  hardens. 

♦  Dr.  Spalding  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  student  of  the 
late  Professor  Rusli,  some  thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 


262  APPENDIX. 

The  use  of  the  hme  water  is  to  harden  the  injection ;  but 
when  white  lead  (which  is  almost  always  adulterated  with 
carbonate  of  lime)  is  used,  lime  water  is  unnecessary. 

"  Cold  fine  Injections. — The  same  materials  will  answer, 
only  adding  to  t!io  Venice  turpentine  an  equal  quantity  of 
spirits  of  turpentine.  This  is  generally  thrown  in  the  vessel 
in  small  quantities  at  first,  and  followed  by  the  above  coarse 
injection. 

"  Cold  minute  Injection. — This  may  be  the  same  as  the 
warui  minute  injection;  or  it  may  consist  of  vermilion 
ground  very  fine  in  spirits  of  turpentine,  adding  a  small  por- 
tion of  Venice  turpentine,  the  whole  being  as  fluid  as  milk, 
and  when  thrown  in,  should  be  followed  by  the  cold  coarse 
injection." 

Sloan's  cold  Injection. 

This  consists  of  plaster  of  Paris,  to  which  some  colouring 
matter  has  been  added,  and  water  gradually  poured  on  it 
until  reduced  to  the  consistence  of  cream — taking  care  to 
cleanse  the  syringe  immediately  after  injecting.  For  mak- 
ing corroded  preparations  of  the  kidney,  &c.,  the  fusible 
metal  may  be  thrown  into  the  artery,  after  heating  the  or- 
gan (but  not  the  artery)  until  it  acquires  the  temperature  of 
boiling  water — to  be  afterwards  treated  as  directed  in  this 
volume. 

A  simple  injection,  adequate  to  all  useful  purposes,  where 
it  is  only  intended  to  illustrate  the  bloodvessels,  consists  of 
tallow,  melted  and  coloured.  Or  the  following,  which  is 
in  general  use  in  the  Parisian  dissecting  rooms :  Lamp- 
black, ground  in  oil,  adding  the  lime  water  and  turpentine 
as  above  mentioned  in  the  cold  coarse  injection. 

It  is  difficult,  at  the  present  time,  to  ascertain  to  whom 
anatomy  is  justly  indebted  for  the  discovery  and  first  intro- 
duction of  arterial  injections,  &c.  The  first  use  of  wax  in- 
jections has  been  attributed  to  Swammerdam,  in  1672,  al- 
though it  is  probable  that  De  Bils  and  Ruysch  preceded 
him.     The  Sieur  Disenclosses  possessed  a  cabinet  furnished 


APPENDIX.  263 

with  over  one  hundred  pieces,  many  consisting  of  injected 
vessels,  a  description  of  which  was  jmblished  in  1727,  but 
the  collection  must  have  existed  many  years  previously. 

Corroded  preparations  have  been  attributed  to  Francis 
Nicolls,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  at  Oxford,  about  the  begii;- 
ning  of  last  century ;  size  injections  to  Rouhaut,  surgeon 
to  the  King  of  Sardinia  ;  the  fusible  metal,  to  Homberg,  of 
Paris,  (this  metal  is  composed  of  an  equal  proportion  of  tin, 
bismuth,  and  brass,)  who  used  a  pneumatic  apparatus  for 
forcing  it  into  the  vessels  ;  the  origin  of  Spalding's  cold  m- 
jections  has  more  recently  been  attributed  to  Mr.  Allan 
Ramsay,  a  Scotch  anatomist.  (  Vide  Horner\s  Practical 
Anatomy,  p.  xviii,  Introduction.) 

Mercurial  Injections. 

These  exact  great  skill  and  care  in  the  operator.  It  re- 
quires an  iron  tube  with  a  finely  drawn  glass  pipe  attached, 
supplied  with  a  stop-cock — they  are  chiefly  used  for  filling 
the  lymphatics  :  the  pipe  must  be  introduced  into  these  ves- 
sels at  numerous  points  most  distant  from  the  heart,  and 
these  successively  charged  with  the  quicksilver. 

The  lymphatic  vessels  of  the  liver,  the  parotid  glands,  the 
vesicute  seminales,  the  testicles,  the  mesentery  of  the  tor- 
toise, the  lactiferous  ducts  of  the  mammae,  the  kidneys  of  a 
cat,  &c.,  form  the  best  objects  for  a  successful  display  of  this 
kind  of  injection. 

The  hand  of  an  emaciated  individual  may  be  readily  in- 
jected, both  arteries  and  veins,  by  fixing  the  pipe  in  the  ra- 
dial artery.  The  vessels  are  very  apt  to  rupture  during  this 
operation,  when  it  had  been  the  custom  to  throw  away  the 
preparation  as  spoiled.  But  this  accident  we  have  found 
very  readily  remedied,  by  simply  touching  the  ruptured 
vessel  with  a  red  hot  wire,  when,  by  the  contraction  of  to- 
nicity, the  effiision  of  the  quicksilver  is  suppressed.  After 
the  injection  has  been  completed,  the  hand  must  be  mace- 
rated in  water,  frequently  changed,  until  the  blood  and  cu- 


264  APPENDIX. 

tide  are  removed,  when  it  may  be  dried  and  varnished,  or 
suspended  in  spirits  of  turpentine. 

We  have  seen  admirable  preparations  in  possession  of 
Professor  Flourens,  in  the  Museum  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes, 
illustrating  the  vascular  connection  between  mother  and  foe- 
tus, by  means  of  both  quicksilver  and  size  injections,  passed 
both  from  the  foetal  vessels  to  those  of  the  uterus,  and  vice 
versa ;  a  species  of  connection  said  to  exist  in  all  animals 
possessed  of  a  simple  placenta,  and  not  cotyledinous. 

Various  other  minute  particulars  connected  with  ana- 
tomical preparations  in  all  its  branches,  will  be  found  fully 
detailed  in  the  present  volume. 


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